Healthy Benefits of Green Tea

The health benefits of drinking green tea are undeniable. Many researchers throughout the world have come up with answers that herbalists from China and Japan have known for centuries. Green tea is less fermented than its cousins oolong tea and black tea, preserving the benefits that are received from green tea. One particular study showing the effects of all three of the teas, following over 40,000 people in Japan during a period of nearly 11 years. The amazing results proved that those who drank five or more cups of green tea per day were considerably healthier, and lowered their risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 26%, lowered their overall mortality rate by 11%.

Green tea contains some incredible natural chemical ingredients, and is extremely rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG. Research shows that EGCG, a powerful anti-oxidant, can prevent the growth of cancer cells, and kill cancer cells without harming healthy body tissues.

Several studies in the 1990's concluded that these polyphenols are also present in the diets of the French, who indulged in certain red wines containing the cancer and heart disease preventing compounds. This is the same ingredient in green tea that has proven to decrease the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men, even though they were quite often smokers.

Green tea has also shown to be effective in lowering the risk of abnormal blood clots, and lowering LDL cholesterol levels. This leads to a lowered risk of heart attacks and stroke, which are largely caused by the formation of abnormal blood clots.

Overall, green tea has proven helpful in preventing and treating cancer, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, high cholesterol, infection, impaired immune function, food poisoning, tooth decay, and obesity. Switching from your daily dose of coffee or soda to hot green tea in the morning or ice cold green tea on a sunny afternoon, you would greatly reduce your risks for many diseases, but reducing your intake of sugar if you are substituting a healthy cup of green tea for your store bought whipped cream laden coffee drink, and they do sell green tea drinks at your favorite coffee shops most of the time, too!