Many prescriptions to achieve better health are tough: they are expensive; they involve complicated cooking, major lifestyle changes, giving up the things we love, following complex procedures or spending hours at the gym or in home training.
Today's recommendations have none of these drawbacks. They are very inexpensive, easy, pleasant tasting and millions of people in hundreds of countries have been following this road to better health for generations.
To reap all these benefits all you have to do is drink more tea.
It sounds too good to be true; and usually when there's such a warning, it is. However, not in the case of tea. Anyway you consume it, tea offers myriad health benefits for your heart, your body and your life.
Drinking more tea is one of the simplest changes you can make to improve your health and your life.
Consider the advantages:
- Boosts your immune system
- Lowers blood sugar
- Helps prevent cavities and tooth decay
- Slows the aging process
- Helps reduce the risk of cancer
- Lowers cholesterol
- Aids in weight loss by burning calories, fat and carbohydrates and reducing stress
- Reduces high blood pressure
- Prevents arthritis
- Reduces the risk of heart disease
- Reduces the risk of stroke
- Lowers the risk of blood clot
Green Tea's Huge Health Benefits
Green tea has significant antioxidant activity. A new large-scale study conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests green tea also has huge health benefits for your immunity, cholesterol, heart and entire cardiovascular system. Plus, it may help boost your metabolism to assist weight loss.
Women in the study who drank tea had higher bone mineral density measurements than those who did not drink tea. The flavonoids in tea might be responsible for preventing osteoporosis.
Green tea, long marketed as an antioxidant, has been theorized to be just as effective in fat-burning by stimulating brown fat thermogenesis (brown fat contains more energy-making elements, called mitochondria, than regular fat). A Swiss study found that green tea, when supplemented in equal amounts with caffeine, significantly increased fat utilization and energy expenditure in humans.
It soothes the soul and calms the mind. Tea fights disease and germs by sharpening the body's immune system so it can better attack invading bacteria and viruses. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School found the immune system blood cells in tea drinkers responded five times faster to germs than the blood cells of coffee drinkers. How much tea do you have to drink? Five cups a day of ordinary black, green, oolong, or pekoe tea will do the trick, reports lead researcher Jack Bukowski.
In Asian societies green tea is consumed in the same quantities as coffee is in the West. Green tea is loaded with polyphenols, with 100 times the antioxidant power of vitamin C. Laboratory experiments suggest polyphenols in green tea called catechins may inhibit the growth of new blood vessels, which may help prevent cancer by depriving tumors of nourishment. Population studies in China link drinking green tea daily with a lowered risk of stomach, esophageal and liver cancers. Studies from Japan show consuming green tea may reduce the risk of heart disease.
Keep your Teeth in your Mouth
Japanese researchers report tea may help you keep your teeth. Tea catechins inhibit the breakdown of collagen in cases of periodontal disease, the progressive loss of the bones that hold teeth in our jaws. Rats fed tea had fewer cavities than those not given tea. A daily cup of tea is a great idea for those who would rather keep their teeth in their mouth than in a jar!
If five cups of tea a day seems like too much; start with one or two cups daily. You can still derive great benefits. A population study in Shanghai showed that just one cup a day appears to lower risk of stomach cancer by 30 percent!
Prefer black tea and to avoid caffeine? Most studies indicate tea in virtually any of its forms-even decaffeinated-is nearly as effective as the super green. One caveat: do not add milk. An Italian study demonstrated that tea diluted by 20 percent with milk lost all its antioxidant properties.
Studies have shown drinking a few cups of tea with a meal of fried or broiled meat can help block cancer-causing chemicals released when meat is cooked.
Researchers are learning the benefits of green tea are increasing daily. Green tea contains some of the most powerful antioxidants you can find. A large-scale study concluded green tea also has tremendous health benefits for your immune system, cholesterol levels and entire cardiovascular system. Without a doubt, adding one or more cups of tea-preferably green for the most benefits, but if not black or iced-each day to your diet is one of the easiest and most delicious things you can do for your health.
