Benefits of Green Tea
Did you know that green tea is considered a superfood? Currently, a lot of hype is going around this antioxidant-rich substance due to its vast variety of advantages. But before diving into further detail about its benefits, it is important to know what green tea is.
Green tea is produced from the Camellia sinensis plant. Its dried leaf and leaf buds are used to make several different teas, including oolong tea and black tea1. The only difference between these teas is that green tea leaves are steamed immediately after harvest rather than drying.
Additionally, Green tea contains a high concentration of polyphenols, such as flavonoids and flavonols, which have several health advantages1. So, continue reading if you want to know more about green tea's benefits on human health.
Health Benefits of Green Tea
There are the followings health benefits of green tea:
Improves Mental Function
Drinking a beverage you love is an excellent choice for boosting mood. Green tea is famous for its mood-boosting effects. Not only does green tea affect your mood, but it may also have beneficial effects on cognitive performance, such as enhanced memory, greater attentiveness, and less anxiety2. Scientists believe caffeine in green tea contributes to these beneficial benefits; however, research is still going on.
Provides Protection Against Heart Disease
As we know green tea contains flavanols and flavanonols, which are together referred to as catechins3. Catechins offer a plethora of health advantages, including protection against degenerative illnesses such as heart disease.
In animal researches, catechins have been found to enhance antioxidant activity and alter lipid metabolism, which means they interfere with the way lipids, including cholesterol, are absorbed by the body4. However, the researchers emphasize that a significant quantity of green tea is required to produce these benefits in animal models.
Lowers the Risk of Cancer
Green tea is known to promote healthy cell growth at all developmental stages and some studies claim that green tea protects against cancer. For example, in animal studies, green tea extract has been proven to protect against carcinogens that may cause breast, liver, prostate, intestine, and lung cancer.
According to the reports, postmenopausal women who consumed two or more cups of green tea daily had a reduced incidence of urinary tract and digestive cancers compared to those women who consumed less green tea5. Additionally, several studies have also discovered a link between green tea consumption and a decreased risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers6.
Although some research showed that green tea is effective against cancer, research is still going on. Therefore, you should not rely on green tea as a treatment option to treat cancer. Indeed, the National Cancer Institute's website states7 "makes no recommendation for or against the use of tea to lower the chance of developing any kind of cancer."
Fat Burning Properties
Green tea has fat-burning properties. According to the research, green tea can increase basal metabolic rate and increase fat burning8. This fat-burning property of green tea is due to Caffeine presence which is thought to increase physical performance by mobilizing fatty acids from adipose tissue and converts these fats into energy9,10.
For more information about Natural Health and Healing go to jillsnaturalhealing.com
References
Cabrera, C., Artacho, R., & Giménez, R. (2006). Beneficial effects of green tea—a review. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 25(2), 79-99.
Kuriyama, S., Hozawa, A., Ohmori, K., Shimazu, T., Matsui, T., Ebihara, S., ... & Tsuji, I. (2006). Green tea consumption and cognitive function: a cross-sectional study from the Tsurugaya Project. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 83(2), 355-361.
Panche AN, Diwan AD, Chandra SR. Flavonoids: an overview. J Nutr Sci. 2016 Dec 29;5:e47. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5465813/.
Crespy V, Williamson G. A review of the health effects of green tea catechins in vivo animal models. J Nutr. 2004 Dec;134(12 Suppl):3431S-3440S. https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/134/12/3431S/4688690
Zheng W, Doyle TJ, Kushi LH, Sellers TA, Hong CP, Folsom AR. Tea consumption and cancer incidence in a prospective cohort study of postmenopausal women. Is J Epidemiol. 1996 Jul 15;144(2):175-82? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8678049/
Katiyar SK, Bergamo BM, Vyalil PK, Elmets CA. Green tea polyphenols: DNA photodamage and photoimmunology. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2001 Dec 31;65(2-3):109-14. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11809367/.
Green Tea. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/green-tea
Diepvens, K., Westerterp, K. R., & Westerterp-Plantenga, M. S. (2007). Obesity and thermogenesis are related to the consumption of caffeine, ephedrine, capsaicin, and green tea. American journal of physiology-Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology.
Magkos, F., & Kavouras, S. A. (2005). Caffeine use in sports, pharmacokinetics in man, and cellular mechanisms of action. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 45(7-8), 535–562. https://doi.org/10.1080/1040-830491379245.
Higgins, S., Straight, C. R., & Lewis, R. D. (2016). The Effects of Pre-exercise Caffeinated Coffee Ingestion on Endurance Performance: An Evidence-Based Review. International journal of sports nutrition and exercise metabolism, 26(3), 221–239. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2015-0147.
