Here is an explanation of the benefits of green tea and how to use it to your advantage.
The Benefits of Antioxidants in Tea
The high levels of antioxidants is what gives green tea most of its medicinal properties. Antioxidants slows or prevents the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation reactions in molecules can create free radicals that can turn into cancer, so antioxidants are an important part of cancer prevention and, possibly, cure according to the Department of Surgery, Center for Human Nutrition, University of California, in the paper Carcinogenesis (2006 Dec;27(12):2424-33.).
Antioxidants are also important to overall cell health. Healthy cells in the body may mean less chance of heart disease, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, and other degenerative diseases. (Sueoka, Naoko . "A New Function of Green Tea: Prevention of Lifestyle-related Diseases." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 928:274-280(2001)).
All of those healthy cells also keep green tea drinkers looking younger, longer because smooth skin relies on plump, living cells. ("Studies: Green Tea May Help Prolong Life." CBS News. 04 Dec 2006. The Today Show. 22 Jul 2008.)
Other Benefits
There are many other benefits from drinking green tea that are not necessarily linked to antioxidants.
Those with high cholesterol may find drinking this type of tea helpful. It reduces the negative effects of “bad cholesterol” or LDL cholesterol by making more “good cholesterol” or HDL cholesterol in the body and reducing the triglycerides in the body. (Maron, David J.. "Cholesterol-Lowering Effect of a Theaflavin-Enriched Green Tea Extract." Archives of Internal Medicine Vol. 163 No. 12(2003) )
Green tea can also be used as a weight loss tool when used alongside a healthy diet. Researchers in Japan have found that drinking five cups of green tea a day can burn up to 70 to 80 calories. (Komatsu , T. "Oolong tea increases energy metabolism in Japanese females.." The Journal of Medical investigation : JMI 1343-1420(1997))
Others have found that drinking green tea can help a person lose around 10 pounds in six weeks. Research by the University of Geneva and the University of Birmingham shows that green tea may raise metabolic rates and the rate calories are burned in the body. Part of this may be caused by the high amount of caffeine in this particular type of tea.
How to Get the Most Benefits from Your Tea
The secret to getting the greatest medicinal properties from your tea is in the tea quality and the preparation.
To find a high quality tea, look at the preparation instructions and the ingredients. The best varieties of teas have 40% raw tea leaf. High quality teas will also call for boiling water in the preparation instructions. Low quality teas will instruct the drinker to not use boiling water. This is because low quality teas become bitter when steeped in boiling water.
The tea should be left to steep for two to three minutes in water that is 190°F-150°F (boiling water) to achieve the best strength of medicinal properties. After the steeping process is over, though, the green tea can be served hot or cold.
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