Drink Well: The Health Benefit of Black and Green Tea

Scientific studies continue to show that green tea is good for you. Tea began as a Chinese medicinal drink, and modern science proves just how green tea is good for you. In traditional Chinese medicine, tea helps to clear the eyes and head, resolve excess phlegm, promote urination, relieve toxins, aid the digestion, and quench thirst. As with so many foods and medicines, the traditional Chinese medicinal thoughts are being proven scientifically in modern times. Today, there is ample evidence that tea is good for you as a daily tonic in the interest of preventing or treating a wide range of maladies, including: cancer, hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol, premature aging, food poisoning, dental decay and bad breath, and even arthritis.

How Is Green Tea Good For You?

• Tea is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.

• Green tea may be good for your waistline. 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 Is Good For Your Immune System

• A Japanese report found that men who drank ten cups of green tea per day stayed cancer-free for three years longer than men who drank less than three cups a day (there are approximately 240 - 320 mg of polyphenols in three cups of green tea). Meanwhile, a study by Cleveland's Western Reserve University concluded that drinking four or more cups of green tea per day could help prevent rheumatoid arthritis, or reduce symptoms in individuals already suffering from the disease.

• Scientists at the Saitama Cancer Research Institute discovered that there were fewer recurrences of breast cancer, and the disease spread less quickly, in women with a history of drinking five cups or more of green tea daily.

Green Tea Is Good For Your Prevention & Treatment Of Cancer

• Scientists also discovered that EGCG from green tea can help to prevent metastasis, or the movement and spreading of cancer cells from one organ or tissue to the other by bloodstream or lymph. Cancer cells secrete special enzymes in order to enter and colonize tissues. Research shows that EGCG stops the secretion of these special enzymes.

• A case study that was done in China, reports that those women who drank green tea regularly had a 50% lower risk of developing esophageal cancer. Men showed less risk as well, but not as significant as women.

• Researchers from Sweden reported that green tea blocked the development of new blood vessels in the lungs. By blocking the development of new blood vessels in the lungs, tumors are less likely to grow and metastasize. Scientists believe that EGCG plays a significant rule in blocking the development of tumors. Similar results were achieved in breast cancer, colon cancer and melanoma studies. It is believed that drinking green tea for an extended period of time will help to prevent and might cure cancer naturally.

• The antioxidants found in green tea--called catechins--may selectively inhibit the growth of cancer. In laboratory studies using animals, catechins scavenged oxidants before cell damage occurred, reduced the number and size of tumors, and inhibited the growth of cancer cells. National Cancer Institute researchers are investigating the therapeutic and preventive use of tea catechins against a variety of cancers.

• One Chinese study involving over 18,000 men found green tea drinkers were about half as likely to develop stomach or esophageal cancer as men who drank little tea, even after adjusting for smoking and other health and diet factors.

• In the laboratory, studies have shown green tea catechins act as powerful inhibitors of cancer growth in several ways: They scavenge oxidants before cell injuries occur, reduce the incidence and size of chemically induced tumors, and inhibit the growth of tumor cells. In studies of liver, skin and stomach cancer, chemically induced tumors were shown to decrease in size in mice that were fed green and black tea.

Green Tea Is Good For Your Teeth

• Green tea is good for your teeth, the catechins prevent decay by killing the bacteria (Streptococcus mutans) that cause dental plaque. Green tea also contains fluoride. One cup of brewed green tea contains around 0.3-0.5 mg of fluoride. This is an optimal level of fluoride according to dentists. As we all know, fluoride builds in our teeth's enamel, making it more resistant against acidic environment, of our mouth. Green tea also eliminates other bacteria that responsible for bad breath. According to researchers, green tea polyphenols can inhibit, by 30%, the growth of bacteria that causes unpleasant breath.

• A study at the Beijing Dental Hospital found consuming 3 grams of green tea a day, or about 2 cups, along with the application of a tea extract reduced the size and proliferation of leukoplakia, a precancerous oral plaque.

• Recent research suggests that green tea is good for your HDL cholesterol ( the "good one") and lowers triglyceride levels. Several tests have been done. And green tea extract has been shown to be good for your cholesterol.

Green Tea Is Good For Your Blood Pressure

• At the the end of a 5 week experiment, one group with the regular diet showed blood pressure increases. For the catechin fed group, the blood pressure stayed normal. After this initial testing the scientists switched the diets for the two groups. This switch led to a reversal of the blood pressure trends. The study concluded that drinking moderate amounts of green tea each day can help to prevent high blood pressure.

The catechins in green tea have additionally been shown to help prevent excess cholesterol in the blood, killing the bacteria that causes food poisoning, lower blood sugar, additionally green tea is good for your high blood pressure by suppressing the production of angiotensn II. Catechin is also a strong anti-oxidant, which aids in aging related concerns.

Green and white tea leaves are less processed than oolong or black teas, which prevents oxidation and retains the highest levels of beneficial compounds. But all tea is good for you, so find the ones you like and drink them daily!

About The Author-- Jake Mayer is the owner of Lapis Teahouse, a manufacturer of private label tea and custom blend herbal products that works with both large and small companies. He can be reached at jake@lapisteahouse.com

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