"Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one."
Is any other food or drink reported to have as many health benefits as green tea? The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches to depression. In her book Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life, Nadine Taylor states that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at least 4,000 years.
Today, scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.To sum up, here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful:
- cancer
- rheumatoid arthritis
- high cholesterol levels
- cariovascular disease
- infection
· impaired immune function
What makes green tea so special?
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.
Other Benefits
New evidence is emerging that green tea can even help dieters. In November, 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.
Green tea can even help prevent tooth decay! Just as its bacteria-destroying abilities can help prevent food poisoning, it can also kill the bacteria that causes dental plaque. Meanwhile, skin preparations containing green tea - from deodorants to creams - are starting to appear on the market.
Harmful Effects?
To date, the only negative side effect reported from drinking green tea is insomnia due to the fact that it contains caffeine. However, green tea contains less caffeine than coffee: there are approximately thirty to sixty mg. of caffeine in six - eight ounces of tea, compared to over one-hundred mg. in eight ounces of coffee.
Does green tea have caffeine? Seven things you need to know
If you want to completely eliminate caffeine from your diet, you will have to add green tea to your list of forbidden foods. However, if you merely want to reduce your caffeine intake, you may want to substitute green tea for coffee as your morning pick-me-up beverage. Consider these facts about green tea:
1. As long as the number of cups you drink remains the same, replacing your morning coffee with a cup of green tea will reduce your caffeine intake by about 70%. One cup of coffee contains 100-150mg of caffeine; a cup of green tea has only about 25mg of caffeine. However, there are many variables affecting these numbers. For example, the caffeine content of different types of green tea can vary; also a longer brewing period can result in more strongly caffeinated tea.
2. Green tea contains two other stimulants in addition to caffeine. These substances, theobromine and theophylline, may affect heart rate and the central nervous system in a way somewhat similar to caffeine. These substances are also found in chocolate.
3. The combined stimulant effects of caffeine, theobromine and theophylline in green tea may be balanced by another substance in the tea, the amino acid L-Theanine which simultaneously calms the nervous system and enhances concentration abilities.
4.Take some time to consider your reasons for wanting to eliminate caffeine from your diet. If you experience negative effects such as anxiety, irritability or insomnia after drinking coffee, consider whether these might be related to the number of cups you drink per day, the time of day when you consume coffee, and what you add to your coffee to sweeten it. You may want to try cutting down on the number of cups you drink per day, switching to another beverage after early afternoon and/or cutting down on the sugar you add to your coffee. There is increasing evidence that caffeine is not as much of a dietary culprit as experts previously thought. For example, some studies indicate caffeine intake may have a protective effect against Parkinson's disease as well as liver and colorectal cancers.
5. If you feel certain that the caffeine in coffee is having a negative effect on your health, or if your health goals include weight loss or better dental health, you may want to switch from coffee to green tea, either entirely or midway through the day. Green tea boosts metabolism, helping the body burn fat more efficiently. Unlike coffee, which gives people bad breath, green tea has a natural antibiotic effect, killing bacteria in the mouth, which not only combats bad breath but can contribute to better dental check-ups. Also, green tea can help protect against heart disease.
6. As with any foods, careful selection of the most natural product helps you receive more of the potential health benefits. Most prepared teas in cans or bottles are pre-sweetened, often with high fructose corn syrup. Also, Japanese green tea leaves are often treated with fluoride. Try to select tea bags or loose tea leaves which are not chemically treated. How you prepare the tea can also have an effect: many health experts believe boiling water destroys the flavonoids in green tea which give it its healing potency. You may want to heat the water without bringing it to a full boil to preserve the positive effects of green tea.
7. If you want to receive the healing benefits of green tea without any caffeine, you can purchase decaffeinated tea. Green tea which is labeled as "naturally decaffeinated" has been treated with the chemical solvent ethyl acetate. A healthier choice is green tea where the caffeine has been removed through a process of "effervescence" using carbon dioxide (CO2) and water.
1. As long as the number of cups you drink remains the same, replacing your morning coffee with a cup of green tea will reduce your caffeine intake by about 70%. One cup of coffee contains 100-150mg of caffeine; a cup of green tea has only about 25mg of caffeine. However, there are many variables affecting these numbers. For example, the caffeine content of different types of green tea can vary; also a longer brewing period can result in more strongly caffeinated tea.
2. Green tea contains two other stimulants in addition to caffeine. These substances, theobromine and theophylline, may affect heart rate and the central nervous system in a way somewhat similar to caffeine. These substances are also found in chocolate.
3. The combined stimulant effects of caffeine, theobromine and theophylline in green tea may be balanced by another substance in the tea, the amino acid L-Theanine which simultaneously calms the nervous system and enhances concentration abilities.
4.Take some time to consider your reasons for wanting to eliminate caffeine from your diet. If you experience negative effects such as anxiety, irritability or insomnia after drinking coffee, consider whether these might be related to the number of cups you drink per day, the time of day when you consume coffee, and what you add to your coffee to sweeten it. You may want to try cutting down on the number of cups you drink per day, switching to another beverage after early afternoon and/or cutting down on the sugar you add to your coffee. There is increasing evidence that caffeine is not as much of a dietary culprit as experts previously thought. For example, some studies indicate caffeine intake may have a protective effect against Parkinson's disease as well as liver and colorectal cancers.
5. If you feel certain that the caffeine in coffee is having a negative effect on your health, or if your health goals include weight loss or better dental health, you may want to switch from coffee to green tea, either entirely or midway through the day. Green tea boosts metabolism, helping the body burn fat more efficiently. Unlike coffee, which gives people bad breath, green tea has a natural antibiotic effect, killing bacteria in the mouth, which not only combats bad breath but can contribute to better dental check-ups. Also, green tea can help protect against heart disease.
6. As with any foods, careful selection of the most natural product helps you receive more of the potential health benefits. Most prepared teas in cans or bottles are pre-sweetened, often with high fructose corn syrup. Also, Japanese green tea leaves are often treated with fluoride. Try to select tea bags or loose tea leaves which are not chemically treated. How you prepare the tea can also have an effect: many health experts believe boiling water destroys the flavonoids in green tea which give it its healing potency. You may want to heat the water without bringing it to a full boil to preserve the positive effects of green tea.
7. If you want to receive the healing benefits of green tea without any caffeine, you can purchase decaffeinated tea. Green tea which is labeled as "naturally decaffeinated" has been treated with the chemical solvent ethyl acetate. A healthier choice is green tea where the caffeine has been removed through a process of "effervescence" using carbon dioxide (CO2) and water.
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