Benefits of Green Tea?

For over 4,000 years, people in the orient have known that drinking green tea provided many benefits to their health,using it to treat everything from headaches to depression, but there was no scientific research to back up these mysterious benefits of green tea until now. Science is now showing how green tea possesses its ability to cure cancer, enable weight loss, and improve cholesterol levels among its many other benefits .

The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots.  The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.

Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the "French Paradox." For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans. The answer was found to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet.  In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas determined that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.

Why don't other Chinese teas have similar health-giving properties? Green, oolong, and black teas all come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. What sets green tea apart is the way it is processed.  Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. By contrast, black and oolong tea leaves are made from fermented leaves, which results in the EGCG being converted into other compounds that are not nearly as effective in preventing and fighting various diseases. 

Weight Loss

If you substitute green tea for the cup of coffee you drink every morning, you will notice a change in your weight in less than a month. The concentration of polyphenols in green tea oxidizes fat in addition to encouraging thermogenesis. Thermogenesis is the rate that a body burns calories. Green tea raises the energy level. The increase of the energy level raises the metabolism level. More weight can be lost than normal because of the rise in metabolism. Also, if you switch your morning beverage to green tea instead of coffee, you will be drinking fewer calories plus you also burn more calories in a day. Weight loss encourages people to drink green tea daily, and it is one of the green tea benefits.

Prevents Cancer

Antioxidants in green tea destroy pesky free radicals in the body, free radicals that develop into noticeable side effects. These noticeable side effects include cancer and signs of aging. Green tea polyphenols are constantly on the lookout for free radicals, and they halt the formation of unstable oxygen molecules. This process, known as oxidation, damages the healthy body cells, and it has been linked to stroke, cancer, and heart disease.

Lowers Cholesterol

One of the most common problems in the West is the presence of high cholesterol. High cholesterol is often linked to the onset of heart attacks. The benefits of green tea include lowering cholesterol, which eliminates the onset of heart attacks. There are two types of cholesterol, a good type of cholesterol (HDL) and a bad type of cholesterol (LDL). Green tea helps to lower the LDL cholesterol. LDL cholesterol forms heavy deposits on artery walls. Green tea catechins decrease the amount of bad cholesterol (LDL). By doing so, it prevents heavy deposits on artery walls and stops heart attacks from occurring in the first place.