I love green tea! Not for the love of the taste- no way but it keeps my weight in check. Green tea has increasingly become demanding all over the world because of its immensely powerful health benefits.
Green tea is made by briefly steaming the harvested leaves making them soft and pliable and preventing them from fermenting or changing color. After steaming, the leaves are rolled and then dried with hot air until they are crisp. The resulting greenish yellow tea has a green, slightly astringent flavor close to the taste of the fresh leaf.
It’s been used as medicine in china for thousands of years. Green tea in comparison to other different teas does not undergo the process of fermentation. This is the main reason that makes it so healthy full of antioxidants and polyphenols.
Here’s a list of benefits of drinking green tea:
- Weight loss: green tea increases metabolism. The polyphenol found in green tea intensify level fat oxidation of the food and the rate at which your body turns food into calories.
- Diabetes: green tea apparently helps in lowering sugar levels after food intake in people suffering from diabetes.
- Heart disease: it helps in keeping the blood vessels relaxed to better withstand the blood pressure and also helps prevent formation of blood clots.
- Prevent cancer: Helps in killing the cancer cells without damaging the normal tissues of body
- Cholesterol: It reduces HDL (bad cholesterol) and increases LDL (good cholesterol).
- Alzheimer and Parkinson’s: helps to delay the deterioration of all types of dementia’s in old age which includes Alzheimer and Parkinson disease
- Tooth decay: Tea catechins- a strong antioxidant which destroys bacteria and virus in order to prevent throat infections and tooth decay.
- Blood pressure: regular consumption of green tea helps to maintain the normal blood pressure level
- Depression: theanine an amino acid present in tea leaves helps to give a soothing and tranquilizing effect and can be a great benefit to tea drinkers
- Skin care: green tea also helps with wrinkles and signs of ageing.
- Arthritis: it can help prevent rheumatoid arthritis as it protects the cartilage by blocking the enzyme that destroys the cartilage.
- Helps to build stronger bones
- Asthma: theophylline in green tea relaxes the muscle which supports the bronchial tubes, reducing the severity of asthma
HOW MUCH OF GREEN TEA?
Green tea is definitely healthy but drinking anything in excess is not necessary. Drinking 2 cups per day is sufficient for an individual. There has been a debate of drinking 10 cups, some people say 5 cups. But depending on the brand, 2 – 3 cups of green tea per day (for a total of 240 – 320 mg polyphenols) or 100-750 mg per day of standardized green tea extract is recommended.
VARIETIES OF TEA:
There are three types of tea: green, black and oolong. The only major difference is in the way they are processed. Green tea does not undergo the process of fermentation so that makes it the most beneficial. It contains highest concentration of powerful antioxidants and polyphenols.
WHAT IS AN ANTIOXIDANT?
Antioxidants are substances that may protect your cells against the affects of free radicals. Free radicals are molecules when your body breaks down food or by environmental exposures like tobacco smoke and radiation. Free radicals can damage cells, and may play a role in heart disease, cancer and other diseases.
- Green tea is much higher in antioxidants than regular tea. It has 30 mg of caffeine per serving. It has a lighter taste than regular tea
- Green tea is healthier and not processed by fermentation
- Oolong tea gets partially fermented and often an additional shaking step that release additional flavours. These two qualities give distinct flowery and tasty flavors. It has somewhat more caffeine and less antioxidant than green tea.
- Black tea is completely fermented which blackens the leaves and causes the formation of caffeine and tannins. Highest level of caffeine and least antioxidants.
PRECAUTIONS:
*People who drink large amount of green tea for long periods of time may experience insomnia, irritability, heart palpitations and dizziness.
*Caffeine overdose can cause vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and loss of appetite.
*If you are drinking a lot of tea and start to vomit and have abdominal spasms then you probably suffering from caffeine poisoning. So immediately lower the intake of caffeine and seek advice from your doctor.
Healthy lifestyle 