Green tea is loaded with antioxidants and nutrients that have powerful effects on the body, green tea is the herb of immortality. Well, figuratively speaking of course but being considered as the healthiest beverage on the planet, it’s no joke on the dozens of benefits it gives to the human body. Some of the most common benefits include improved brain function, fat loss, a lower risk of cancer and a ton of other quantifiable benefits.
Below you will find 10 of the scientifically proven benefits that green tea has:
1. Contains a Number of Bioactive Compounds
There are 3 important antioxidants found in green tea and they are polyphenols like flavonoids and catechins as well as the more powerful Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), which destroys free radicals, protect your cells and keep you looking and feeling younger. It basically is an anti-aging plant that we’re so lucky to have here on Earth.
2. Green Tea can Improve Brain Function
Like your regular morning coffee cup, green tea has a substantial amount of caffeine, which is a known brain stimulant. By blocking the inhibitory neurotransmitter called Adenosine, caffeine lets your neurons (brain cells) loose, triggering an electro-chemical chain reaction unleashing dopamine and norepinephrine! Ok I think I’ve gone too far with the science there but plain and simple – it makes you smarter. According to scientists the results they found in their research shows that people who drink green tea regularly display an improved mood, vigilance, reaction time and memory.
3. It Burns Calories Even if You Don’t
Researchers are now certain that green tea (or at least one of its properties) is responsible for triggering the metabolic ratio in humans and burn calories in the process. In other words green tea is your effective fitness supplement except that Mother Nature has concocted this herb hundreds of millions of years ago! Green tea increased energy expenditure by 4% on all 10 male subjects of a recent experiment by scientists and it also increased fat oxidation by 17 percent.
4. It Might Just Cure Cancer Too!
Cancer is the number one killer in the United States ever since the early 1970s and it starts with abnormal cellular growth, until it spreads throughout the entire body uncontrollably. Scientists have long suspected that one of the major causes of cancers is free radicals. Free radicals are chemical residues left over from undigested food or a mixture of foreign particles and the naturally occurring chemicals in our body and they are highly unstable. Unfortunately, their unbalanced number of electrons causes them to get attracted to your stable cells that apparently have the extra electron they need to form more stable molecules.
The encounter between them is like a bomb and they literally destroy your cells and rearrange its genetic pattern. One free radical may
not cause significant damage but if we’re talking about millions or probably even billions of them, then you’ll get your cancer. Now what the antioxidants do in green tea is eliminate these free radicals, which means green tea will help prevent the risk of developing cancer cells in your body.
Experts concluded based on their laboratory tests on how green tea’s antioxidants react in the human body shows that:
- It has a 22% chance to lower risk of developing breast cancer
- It has a 48% chance to lower risk of developing prostate cancer, and
- A 57% chance to lower risk of colorectal cancer
5. Lower the Risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease are two of the worst and most common neurodegenerative disease in humans and may cause dementia as well as death. It has been proven by lab tests that the bioactive compounds in green tea helps keep a healthy brain activity even after you’ve reached 70 years old. In fact, you’ll rarely hear about Asians complaining a lot about these kinds of diseases and it’s because green tea is part of their regular diet.
6. It’s Anti-Bacterial as Well
Confused about which oral hygiene product to use to keep your mouth fresh and clean? Well, I like mint or menthol in my mouth because it makes me feel clean up to a certain point, but bacteria-free clean mouth is hardly achievable. Our own saliva, the food we ingest and airborne stuff that indirectly enters our mouth have bacteria. But did you know that green tea can do away with them all? Oh yes! Green tea is definitely an anti-bacterial plant and it even reduces bad breath.
7. Green Tea May Lower Your Risk of Type II Diabetes
Green tea can improve insulin sensitivity and reduce blood sugar levels according to new studies. Roughly 300 million people worldwide have Type II Diabetes and there is no cure for it yet, except for a few scientists at MIT using nano technology to replicate insulin, but it may take a decade before they can make a breakthrough. Incredibly green tea serves as a viable alternative – though not a cure – but a perfect herb to prevent it.
8. Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Next to cancer, the biggest killer in America is cardiovascular disease. Green tea drinkers have up to a 31% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, thanks to the high content of antioxidant in it. Green tea in particular mixes your red blood cells with antioxidants which protects the LDL cholesterol particles from oxidation. If the reverse were to occur it could lead to a certain heart disease.
9. Helps You Reduce the Risks of Obesity
We’ve previously discussed the property of green tea that burns calories and increases the body’s metabolism. This, of course, will lead to one logical conclusion and it is this: you will have less than 13% chance of becoming obese if you drink green tea daily. Just imagine if you drink green tea and did Pilates or Zumba at the same time – you will be chiseled, sculpted and be on top physical health in no time!
10. Will Extend Life Expectancy
Although death is inevitable, the Chinese and Japanese people have shown a remarkably resilience to it. What is their secret? Green tea, natural health-enhancing herbs, martial arts and meditation. A recent study which has been conducted in Japan which involves over 14,001 elderly subjects. Their age range is between 65-84 years old and they were asked to drink as much green tea as possible during a 6-year period. Scientists observed that the people who drank green tea the most likely had a 76% chance of adding more years to their age.
Johanna Oosterwijk ND
