Green Tea Health Benefits
Green Tea health benefits have been studied since tea was first discovered. According to legend, Shennong, known as the father of medicine discovered tea by accident. He traveled the country testing plants for their medicinal effects. One day about 4,700 years ago he had tried several different types of poisonous plants. Near death, his followers were boiling water for him to sooth his stomach and some leaves from a nearby tree fell into the water. Shennong immediately noticed a nice fragrance coming from the water and tasted the water and was miraculously cured. Ever since then people have been studying Green Tea’s health benefits. Shennong wrote a book entitled “The Divine Farmer’s Herb-Root Classic. In his book he said that tea was useful for treating such ailments as tumors, abscesses, bladder ailments, and lethargy. It wasn't until very recently that scientists have been doing research into Green Tea’s health benefits, and has found that Green Tea is wonderful for many diseases and ailments. To date, not many large human based tests have been run, but the preliminary tests do look quite promising.
Antioxidants in Green Tea
Because the processing of Green Tea leaves the tea close to its original state, Green Tea maintains a large amount of antioxidants. The antioxidants found in Green Tea are called catechins, in particular Epigallocatechin 3 Gallate (EGCG).
Green Tea as a Cancer Fighter
In Japan, a study that involved almost 500 Japanese women diagnosed with Stage 1 and Stage 2 breast cancer found that increased Green Tea consumption before and after surgery resulted in a lower recurrence of the cancer.
Chinese studies have shown that the amount of tea that participants drank directly affected the risk of developing prostate, pancreatic, esophageal and stomach cancer.
A recent analysis of 22 independent studies that looked into the correlation between high tea consumption, and the reduced risk of lung cancer concluded that by increasing the daily intake of Green Tea by at least two cups may reduce the risk of lung cancer by 18%.
Green Tea and your heart
In a study in Japan that involved over 500 test subjects, researchers found that drinking at least four cups of Green Tea every day might reduce the severity of coronary heart disease in males.
A Dutch Study involving more than 3,000 men and women found that the more tea consumed, the less severe the clogging of the heart’s blood vessels were.
Green Tea and Weight Loss
Recent studies have shown that Green Tea health benefits include the ability to lower cholesterol and help in the battle for weight loss. Green tea and its extract have been shown to fight obesity and lower LDL "bad" cholesterol, two risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, but there have been very limited studies into this. One study in the Netherlands and a study in Japan showed that green tea did both.
In the Dutch study, the participants who drank caffeinated Green Tea lost weight. Researchers theorized that caffeine helps with fat oxidation.
The Japanese Study had 240 participants. Over a period of three months they were given varying amounts of Green Tea extract. The participants who had the highest amount lost weight and fat and had lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
Conclusion
Although many more studies need to be done, these preliminary studies have shown that there are many Green Tea health benefits and the evidence suggests that adding a few cups of Green Tea every day will positively affect people’s health.
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