Email a Friend
Print Article
How Does Green Tea Help Your Health?
Last week I told you I was going to ponder green tea a bit more while I sipped a cup and here I am with the results of that pondering.
How might tea phytochemicals reduce the risk of heart disease?
Delayed atherogenesis, lower risk of heart disease, reduced endothelial cell LDL cholesterol oxidation, and an increase in HDL cholesterol were all reported as health benefits in green tea in recent rat studies. That doesn't exactly translate perfectly to human beings, but it's a great start! Here are some of the possible ways that green tea components help your body.
* May slow the build up of artery clogging plaque (mice study)
Antioxidants make up a third of the weight of dried green tea leaves. And one of these antioxidants is called EGCG, the main catechin phytochemical in tea, which was shown to slow the build up of artery clogging plaque in mice in a recent study.
[Circulation May 25, 2004 109: 2448-2453 Chyu K-Y, et al., "Differential effects of Green Tea-derived Catechin on Development Versus Established Atherosclerosis in Apolipoprotein E-Null Mice"]
* May lower cholesterol levels by increasing intestinal excretion of cholesterol and bile acids (via your stool).
* Potential probiotic effect stimulating intestinal fermentation and production of volatile fatty acids.
* May increase HDL "good" cholesterol levels (in rats fed green tea)
* Lab research with cell cultures suggests that green tea has the ability to decrease cholesterol concentration within the cell (intracellular).
* May protect LDL "bad" cholesterol from oxidative modification
(Biofactors 2000 13,55 Miyazawa T., "Absorption, metabolism, and antioxidant effects of tea catechins in humans")
* Green tea contains tannins (another type of phytochemical in tea besides catechins), which can help inhibit peroxidation chain reactions that are induced by a particular type of free radical.
* Green tea catechins may help regenerate/recycle the antioxidant, alpha tocopherol (a form of vitamin E), and increase plasma blood levels of alpha tocopherol
What is your favorite green tea?
~Elaine
Related Topics: Antioxidant Superstars, WebMD Daily Video: Antioxidants for Nureopathy
Technorati Tags: greentea, heartdisease, cholesterol, antioxidants, phytochemicals
How might tea phytochemicals reduce the risk of heart disease?
Delayed atherogenesis, lower risk of heart disease, reduced endothelial cell LDL cholesterol oxidation, and an increase in HDL cholesterol were all reported as health benefits in green tea in recent rat studies. That doesn't exactly translate perfectly to human beings, but it's a great start! Here are some of the possible ways that green tea components help your body.
* May slow the build up of artery clogging plaque (mice study)
Antioxidants make up a third of the weight of dried green tea leaves. And one of these antioxidants is called EGCG, the main catechin phytochemical in tea, which was shown to slow the build up of artery clogging plaque in mice in a recent study.
[Circulation May 25, 2004 109: 2448-2453 Chyu K-Y, et al., "Differential effects of Green Tea-derived Catechin on Development Versus Established Atherosclerosis in Apolipoprotein E-Null Mice"]
* May lower cholesterol levels by increasing intestinal excretion of cholesterol and bile acids (via your stool).
* Potential probiotic effect stimulating intestinal fermentation and production of volatile fatty acids.
* May increase HDL "good" cholesterol levels (in rats fed green tea)
* Lab research with cell cultures suggests that green tea has the ability to decrease cholesterol concentration within the cell (intracellular).
* May protect LDL "bad" cholesterol from oxidative modification
(Biofactors 2000 13,55 Miyazawa T., "Absorption, metabolism, and antioxidant effects of tea catechins in humans")
* Green tea contains tannins (another type of phytochemical in tea besides catechins), which can help inhibit peroxidation chain reactions that are induced by a particular type of free radical.
* Green tea catechins may help regenerate/recycle the antioxidant, alpha tocopherol (a form of vitamin E), and increase plasma blood levels of alpha tocopherol
What is your favorite green tea?
~Elaine
Related Topics: Antioxidant Superstars, WebMD Daily Video: Antioxidants for Nureopathy
Technorati Tags: greentea, heartdisease, cholesterol, antioxidants, phytochemicals
51 Comments:
My favorite green tea is "pink grapefruit" by Republic of Tea. Both my daughter and I love that one.
EV
I just bought that type of tea!
I do enjoy it...not too strong...just enough flavor. I think I like the BLueberry a little better than that one though (Republic of Tea).
Thanks for sharing!
Elaine Magee
I love the Lipton Diet Green Tea as the others seem a little strong.
lipton green tea has been my diet
salvation. i stopped any type of
soda altogether and have sub for green tea. no bloating! wt loss and energy seem to be the only side effect.
another benifit of drinking tea is that it prevents cavities. I have been drinking tea for many many years and now drink mostly green tea but black tea in the morning. i am not a coffee drinker. never heard of blueberry or pink grapefruit as I only buy my tea in the oriental store, they only carry Chinese and Japanese tea.
My favorite is Yogi Tea, It is a green tea with triple echinacea. It has a wonderful tast!!!
You can get online at www.yogitea.com
JB
Recently I started a green tea experiment, and being quite pleased with the result of my "iron self discipline", I'd like to share my experience.
I realised it was high time to quit black tea because my mother brought it to my attention several times that I was adding way too much sugar in my tea (4-5 teaspoonfuls per cup and I drink about 6-8 cups of tea per day!). In public, I often get asked if I'm adding sugar to tea or tea to sugar. Trying to decrease the amount of sugar simply didn't work, because I couldn't relish the taste of tea.
Having read about the health benefits of green tea, I finally decided it was time to put my knowledge to good use. It was more a necessity rather than a luxury, because of the huge quantities of sugar I was consuming. I chose Japanese Sencha (loose leaves not tea bags). Since there was no question of me drinking it if it wasn't sweet, I chose honey instead. The taste still didn't appeal to me. So I decided to add some real flavour to it (sorry, my taste buds simply can't appreciate the subtle taste of green tea!). I tried apple+blackcurrant tea first and found that rosehip+hibiscus tea tasted even better. So that is how I drink my green tea, with honey and rosehip+hibiscus. I don't enjoy it as much as black tea and do not drink more than two cups per day. But it is a great achievement because as part of the experiment, I stopped buying black tea and sugar, knowing that I would automatically drink black tea with sugar, if there was any in the house.
I went through some agonising withdrawal symptoms when I had to do without the sugar fix. But the craving eased off after about two weeks. Now I don't crave for black tea and sugar anymore, although I don't drink green tea with any great pleasure. I must read ocassionally about the benefits of green tea, to keep up the motivation to stick to my health plan. It has worked so far.
I encourage anyone having difficulty trying out green tea for health reasons, to try what I did. I feel terrific for having kept up my experiment with the health drink thus far!
SJT
My favorite green tea is made by Stash and called chai green tea. I do not process sugar well, so I use Splenda. It seems to me sweetening brings forth the spices. I have always used cream with my black tea (and sweetener) but read that milk products counteract the healthful benefits of green tea. I used to drink a lot of diet soda, but seem to have replaced my "addiction" with green tea. I drink at least 64 oz of water each day and one, if not two, pots of green tea. I bought a new coffee maker and put my tea bags into the pot, so they might steep as the water seeps in. I do not like the taste of coffee, which seemed to be left in any pot it had been brewed in.
Arizona Tea makes a green tea with honey and ginseng. It is so good that we buy it by the gallon and drink it cold. We are buying 4 gallons at a time since my husband quit his 4-5 a day Dr Pepper habit and just drinks the tea.
I really enjoy the Stash Green & White blended tea. They also make Regular Green, Pomegranite & Raspberry Green and Green and Chai
I just started drinking arizona diet green tea with ginseng...not a pop drinker just water. I love the test of it. I heard how good it was for you..Has anyone experienced a change in color with their bowels? Tina
My favorite type of green tea is green tea with mint. I also would like to add that I read an article in a magazine that said that if you drink a cup of plain gren tea with each meal, then you could lose up to eighteen pounds a year...I wonder if it is true?!?
My favorite kind of green tea is Celestial Seasons decaf green tea. It is delicious as a warm treat with honey. I also just discovered that it is awsome as iced tea! I got hooked on it immediately and used sugar to sweeten it, but i am trying to get more healthy and I made it iced with honey today and loved it!
By the way, does anyone know if you can drink too much green tea? Since I am newly addicted to it iced, i drink about a half gallon a day! YUM!!!
I like Constant Comment Green Tea by Bigelow. It has added flavor of orange and spice and you cannot even tell you are drinking green tea. I also like just plain ol' Lipton's Green Tea. If you have a Panera's in your town, Panera's has a wonderful tasting Iced Green Tea. It is delicious. KJ
I have been a soda drinker for years, however no more. I found lipton diet green tea and lipton dt white tea with raspberry flavoring. These lipton teas are nice and smooth. So instead of a 6+ cans/bottles of soda; its now lipton tea
My? in market so many differance brand green tea which one good?
I have tried a lot of brands. My favorites are GOOD EARTH green tea with lemon grass and REPUBLIC OF TEA green teas especially Wild Berry Plum. These companies offer decaf green tea/s and the teas are not strong.
I love the green tea from TAZO, (can find it at Sheetz for only $1.79 a bottle) Its great! Not overly flavored and made with organic green tea. It's the best Green tea I have ever had. I love it! Check out the site, they (Tazo) has alot of green tea drinks. Tazo.com
i drink lots of lipton greean tea citris and i also drink arizon green tea with ginseng and honey does anyone know which 1 is better 4 u ? i 1st thought that lipton was better because it is more expensive and arizon is only 99 cents if you buy it in a can, but i really dont know
pleasE help !
I would try looking in to www.greenteamn.com for those who don't like the taste of green tea, they have 8 different flavors to choose from that taste nothing like tea and have a great juice-like flavor. It is extremely rich in the antioxidants without the worry of caffeine.
Green TeaHP is probably the best product out there much more than Liptons of Arizona. It doesn't have any sugars but is naturally sweet and no added caffeine. Liptons only has about 72 mgs of the antioxidants where as Green TeaHP has about 500mgs. Comes in packs of 60 pixies for about $1.08 per pixie.
I really don,t know how it helps my health, but I drink it every day with out sugar.(green tea with ginseng)usually after breakfast or after eating a heavy meal.I could say Iam addicited to it.My question is ginseng with green tea good for you? I am 52 years old...
gree tea tea is fresh(really good)
I started drinking lipton green tea with citurs...I don't like tea but I love that! Haven't had the nerve to try others.
I used to drink nothing but Mountain Dew morning, noon and night. I began reading about the benefits of antioxidant found in green tea. Now, sorry Pepsi, I am hooked on a new and more healthy drink. The only other drink you will find in my hand is a Monster Energy drink. Low Carb of course.
The Diet Lipton Green Tea is awesome, it's my favorite, I have it eveyday.
I LOVE WHITE TEA WITH ISLAND MANGO & PEACH FLAVOR. IT KEEPS ME FEELING FULL ALL DAY. I DRINK 4-5 CUPS A DAY. LOVELYLIN
i never use to drink tea i thought it was nasty but i try Lipton island mango and peach flavor i am hooked on it!!!
ARIZONA GREEN TEA is the best green tea I have ever had
My favorite is Celestial Seasonings Decaf Honey Chamomile Green Tea with the panda on the box. 0 calories, and the smell is heavenly! Check it out.
I like Arizona green tea ok, but it does have a lot of sweetner added. It has more high fructose corn syrup than honey too. Look at the ingredients next time you drink one. It does still have a little less sugar than soda though. There is also diet versions, but they don't taste as good, has that artificial sweenter taste.
It's great to see some interest in tea and its health benefits. Go Tea Drinkers!
I just wanted to share a comment about drinking tea and sugar (or sugar and tea) like SJT posted. I used to put a lot of sugar in my tea too because I didn't know any better. I didn't know there was a right and wrong way of making a pot of tea. I couldn't help but put sugar in my tea to sweeten it because it always tasted bitter to me.
I finally discovered through a local tea house called Essencha in Cincinnati that there is a way out. They showed me that you can still enjoy tea without sugar. Here is what they taught me: The 3 steps to making a perfect cup (checkout this and other info on their site www.essencha.com):
1-Amount of tea (usually 1 teaspoon per 6-8oz cup)
2-Infusion time (critical): 2-3mins for green tea, 4-5mins for blacks, 7-10mins for rooibos and herbals. Essencha makes it easy for me as I buy my teas from them now. They print these directions in an easy 1-2-3 steps on their beautiful tins.
3-Good filtered water at the right temperature. This is also a critical element. For example, blacks, herbals, and rooibos take boiling water at 212degr, most greens and oolongs take 150-180degrs.
I haven't put sugar in my tea for over a year now. I have also developed my palate and sense of taste/smell. Essencha carries more than 80 different loose leaf teas, so I pick up a different kind every now and then.
I am also proud to say that I stopped drinking coffee completely once I discovered tea as an alternative. I am no longer jittery in the morning. I make a pot of black tea in the morning (usually a Keemun Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, or to pamper myself, a Yunnan Gold Tips Supreme), a green tea with/after lunch (Walnut hmmm, Kukicha, or the Premium Organic Sencha) and if I have time in the evening, I'd make a pot of Rooibos, or herbal tea (I love the spiced nuts and caramel rooibos).
I've been drinking Green Tea for years, I have 3 cups every morning before breakfast. I add 1 equal to each cup. At first I didn't like the taste, but, health first! And it certaintly is an aquired taste. I always make sure I have enough Green Tea in my house.
I believe in the health benefits, I also think it's good for your skin.
I have read the various recommendations for the various brands and flavors of green tea. I was wonderng if anyone has comments on the Green Tea Extract pills. Not the ones with appetite suppressents in it, but the plain Green Tea pills.
I keep hearing that green tea helps with weight loss. has anyone notice any weight changes by drinking regular Lipton Green Tea. I'm a new mom and having trouble getting rid of a few pounds I put on during my pregnancy and don't want to spend money on diet pills nor do I think they are healthy.
Tina, I never thought I ever post something like this,but , Yes, I could not figure out where the green came from but I came to web md to get the answer and there you were. Thanks I guess I am going to live,a 3bottle a day green tea addict. Dave
Green tea is wonderful!!! Won't be with out it. Yes it will help you loose weight.I have lost 110 lbs. since last April 2007
I didn't change my way of eating nor did I exercise. I make my own and drink it cold. Don't like the taste== try fresh lime or an orange in it. It's GREAT !!!!
im drinking green tea hp its an instant green tea supplement, its like drinking 50 cups of green tea everyday, it comes in 6 flavours and taste great.
it help me we my energy,mental clarity,hair growen,cholesteroland i lost 15 pounds in 1 1/2 monthes.
i recommend it for everyone cause it make you feel good!!!
I have been drinking Lipton Green tea in the morning 2 cups with splenda and 1-2 cups before bed no sugar I have lost 10 pounds but in my head I am scared I am a nervous perdon and I think there is something wrong medically with me I have never been able to loose weight I am 61 I pray that the tea is doing it AMEN
I enjoy Ting Ting Yu Li blossoming tea the most.
Its a crowd pleaser as it blossoms open into a flower, and more over its taste is subtle and less harsh. My only concern however is if I drink too much tea.
Ting Ting Yu Li is a green Tea BTW.
I do not know the manufacturer, as its all in chinese.
normally i buy my green tea in 99cents store i love it because it's cheap and it works for me. I tried this new green tea called salada it was going for 4:00$ its ok but did not have enough strength.What works for you does have to work for me i stopped drinking coffee,soda,black tea,for three years and controled what i eat and exercised thats what kept my weight off.It' all about controlling your life and making healthy choices,So ask your self this which green tea works for me?
I enjoy Lipton Decaffinated green tea. I find that steeping it for several minutes and adding two teaspoons of honey produces the best taste.
My Favorite Green Teas are Lipton Green Tea Citrus Flavor for a cold iced tea and for my Hot tea I Absolutely Love Twinnings Green Tea I Use Splenda in my Hot Tea because I am a Diabetic and it seems to be fine for me. I have been drinking Grren Tea now for over a year and cut out all PoP and Sugar and with my exercising I have lost almost 60 pounds!!!
www.sparkpeople.com/darkfeary474
Does green tea contain caffeine like black tea?
Yes, green tea contains 1/3 the caffeine of black tea, so it gives a gentle boost, not a sledge hammer. It is perfect for me!
E
Does adding skim milk to green tea make it less healthy in any way?
Green Tea is wonderful. If you get the real tea. I've been drinking green tea for twenty years and researched the various types. No matter what the ads say there is only one real way to decaffinate coffee and tea. Cyanide is used.Most cheap brands such as most common store bought brands use what is known in the industry as "dustings". It is what is swept off the floor after the tea industry buyers select their leaves. Ugh! First choice is getting a bud with 2 leaves going down in quality to broken Pekoe. A good Chinese or Japanese Green may be pricey but you'll notice a difference in taste right away. And different teas from different regions differ greatly and are fun to try. If you really want the true health benefits get the real goods not a sugar loaded pop substitute or something scraped off the bottom of a broom, Also brewing is very important and a true green tea will never have nor need sugar or milk.
Question for you: Does green tea cause urine to be a different color?
Love Lipton Decaf Honey Lemon Green Tea. Great taste & soothing.
Trader Joe's makes an great unsweetened green tea to be enjoyed cold and/or over ice. It can be found in their green glass bottles. My favorite is available unsweetened with the slight flavor of blueberry and pomegranate. I still dilute it a bit with water =)
DOES DRINKING TOO MUCH GREEN TEA CAUSE ANY MEDICAL PROBLEMS ? I DRINK A CUP OF HOT TADIN GREEN TEA EVERY NIGHT. IS GREAT IT KILLS MY HUNGER. I USED TO GET REALLY HUNGRY OVER NIGHT REALLY HATE IT. SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THE ANSWER PLEASE POST YOUR ANSWER. THANKS
Post a Comment