Every day it seems like there is a new natural remedy being touted by doctors, magazines, and your friends. However, green tea doesn’t seem to be a passing fad: It has been consumed all over Asia for centuries and over the last decade, tons of research has linked green tea to a range of health benefits. Below are 8 of them:
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Research on the benefits of green tea and cancer prevention is still in the early stages, but the results are promising. Researchers suspect that the polyphenols in green tea help to destroy cancer cells and stop their progression, a very important role in the prevention of various cancers.
In a study of 472 women suffering from breast cancer, those who drank the most green tea experienced the least spread of the disease. Researchers also found that women in the early stages of breast cancer who drank at least five cups of green tea per day during their diagnoses were less likely to have the disease recur after their treatment was completed.
One Chinese study found that men who drank more than three cups of green tea per day reduced their risk of prostate cancer by 70%. In another study funded by the National Institute of Health, 79 men with prostate cancer were told to either drink six cups of green tea a day or six cups of water. After 3-8 weeks, the levels of prostate-specific antigen, a protein that may indicate cancer, were lower in the men who drank green tea than those who drank water.
2. Makes Your Heart Healthier
Green tea contains a significant amount of antioxidants and flavonoids that help protect against heart disease by slowing the breakdown of LDL cholesterol, improving blood vessel function, and preventing blood clots.
The benefits of green tea also include lower rates of artery blockages. For example, those who drink a cup or two a day have a 46% lower chance of developing narrowed arteries. Increasing that to three cups a day lowers the risk of having a heart attack by 43% and dying from a heart attack by 70%.
Green tea can even help prevent a second heart attack. In a study of 1,900 patients recovering from heart attacks at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, the death rate among patients who drank at least two cups of green tea per day was 44% lower than among non-tea drinkers.
To decrease your aches and pains, try sipping four cups of green tea per day. Green tea contains quercetin, a chemical compound that acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.
In a recent study conducted at Case Western Reserve University, researchers gave mice the equivalent of four cups of green tea a day, then gave them a substance that would normally produce rheumatoid arthritis. The tea-drinking mice were far less likely to develop arthritis than mice that drank only water.
According to the Iowa Women’s Health Study, women who drink more than three cups of tea a day are 60% less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than those who don’t drink green tea.
4. Boosts Your Brain
Researchers from the Netherlands confirmed in a recent study that two green tea compounds, L-theanine and caffeine, can significantly increase levels of alertness and attention, building on what is already known about the brain benefits of green tea.
This drink is less likely to make you jittery and anxious when compared to other energy-boosting drinks because it contains lower levels of caffeine.
In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers discovered that drinking just one cup of green tea per day made people over the age of 55, 38% less likely to experience a decline in cognitive abilities.
Drinking just two or three cups of green tea each day can help clear up a urinary tract infection. Green tea contains antioxidants that one study found can help reduce bladder inflammation. Other studies have shown that those who drink green tea regularly have a 40% lower incidence of UTIs than those who don’t drink green tea.
6. Relieves Allergies
Another benefit of green tea is that it is rich in flavonoids (plant chemicals that help protect against inflammation). Therefore, if you’re struggling with allergies, you should try drinking a couple of cups of green tea per day to see if the sinus inflammation decreases.
Quercetin, an antioxidant found in green tea, has been shown to inhibit the release of inflammatory substances from masts cells, which are involved in allergic responses. This is exactly how asthma medication works, so try drinking a couple of cups of green tea each day in order to keep your asthma symptoms at bay.
8. Cuts Down on Stress
Since green tea has lower levels of caffeine than most other teas, you might be able to drink the five cups per day that lowered psychological stress in a large group of Japanese people in a recent study that was carried out at Sendai’s Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine.
The researchers couldn’t identify any particular component of green tea that might be soothing, but animal studies suggest that one compound, EGCC, has both sedative and hypnotic effects that turn down the body’s production of stress chemicals.
Many investigators say that tea in general and especially the green variety, are very beneficial to our health (apart from being a delicious drink – I love tea very much).
But we would be well advised to watch about the origin or provenience of the teas we consume and avoid teas, as well as other foodstuff, of japanese origin.
This, because of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
It might give your skin a nice glow! 😉
I drink a lot of green tea mixed with milk or cream to even increase it’s benefits and can testify that it is indeed great cleaning/refreshing/rejuvenating agent.
Great, and thanks for your comment.
What is the synergy between green tea and milk or cream? (I drink it that way also.)