With a little caffeine and a lot of antioxidants, research shows that green tea can boost total-body health.
Green Tea Protects Skin
Research shows that drinking green tea or placing green tea bags over your skin may help protect it from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. This may be due to the extract epigallocatechin gallate, which showed promise against skin cancer in recent lab tests at the University of Strathclyde.
Green Tea Lowers Cholesterol
Researchers believe green tea’s catechins help prevent the absorption of cholesterol in the organs while simultaneously increasing the absorption of high-density HDL (good) cholesterol.
Green Tea Helps Manages Weight
If you’re watching your weight, green tea could be among the superfoods you want to include in your diet. Although green tea may not produce immediate weight loss, numerous studies have concluded that the properties of green tea can help you lose weight when consumed as part of a healthy diet because green tea increases energy expenditure and fat oxidation.
Green Tea Improves Bone Health
Osteoporosis is a serious health threat for both men and women. There is growing evidence that green tea can help. A study in the journal Nutrition Research found tea drinkers between the ages of 65 and 75 had 5-percent higher bone density, prompting researchers to conclude that drinking green tea can lower your fracture risk. Researchers in Hong Kong also found that green tea contains a group of chemicals that stimulates the formation of bone and helps slow their breakdown.
Green Tea Boosts Oral Health
A number of studies, including one of 940 men in Japan, show that drinking green tea regularly can lead to a healthy mouth because tea’s catechins can actually help kill mouth bacteria. Mouth bacteria can turn the sugar in foods into plaque, and plaque produces acids that can cause tooth decay. Catechins may also help kill the bacteria that can cause bad breath.
Green Tea Helps Prevent Parkinson's and Alzheimer's
According to a 2012 study published in the Journal of Phytotherapy and Phytopharacology, there is significant evidence that free radicals play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease and that the polyphenols in green tea can help fight these free radicals. Researchers found that polyphenols can help prevent the buildup of brain-damaging proteins, as well as help prevent memory loss.
Green Tea Fights Some Cancers
A number of studies show that green tea benefits include protection against certain cancers. “The data are the strongest for ovarian, bladder, and esophageal cancers,” Moore says. Green tea has been shown to lower the risk of breast cancer spread and decrease the risk of breast cancer recurrence. Research shows that green tea might help reduce the risk for breast cancer among Asian-American women.
Green Tea Protects Against Diabetes
There is some evidence that drinking this super drink can help prevent diabetes. One study found that Japanese adults who drank more than 6 cups of green tea a day had a much lower risk (33 percent) of developing type 2 diabetes than those who drank a cup or less a day. A number of smaller studies found that green tea extract lowered blood sugar levels in people who were borderline diabetic.
Green Tea Helps Prevent Heart Attack
Several population-based studies show that green tea consumption can lower the risk of a heart attack by up to 11 percent. According to an analysis by the University of Maryland Medical Center, scientists also believe that green tea can help prevent coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis.
Green Tea Boosts Energy
Some studies have found that green tea can boost your energy levels, most likely thanks to the caffeine. In fact, Japanese researchers found that when endurance athletes drank four cups of green tea a day for about 12 weeks, their overall endurance increased between 8 to 24 percent almost across the board.
Source: Everyday Health