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Nutrition News - More Good News For Green Tea
I'm a 2 glasses/mugs of green tea-a-day drinker myself. I personally couldn't ignore any longer all the evidence that seemed to be stacking up in favor of green tea (and tea in general) for improved health and perhaps disease protection. So last year I made drinking green tea (and tea in general) a habit.
I expect that we'll see more and more research being published on the health benefits of green tea over the coming years. Years from now when it becomes a well-known fact that drinking green tea is one of the best things you can do for your health, you can think back and say, "Hey, this must be what that Elaine Magee Recipe Doctor lady was trying to tell us!"
This week another provacative study on green tea was published (Journal of the American Medical Association Sept. 13, 2006) and I'm so excited about it.
This study involved over 40,000 Japanese adults age 40 to 79, living in northeastern Japan, where 80% of the population drinks green tea and half of these people drink 3 or more cups a day. The study started in 1994 and the participants who had no history of stroke, coronary heart disease, or cancer at baseline were followed for 11 years.
The researchers found that as green tea consumption went up, all-cause of death went down including death from cardiovascular disease. The people who drank 5 or more cups of green tea per day saw a 26% decrease in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality at the 7 year mark. And here's the bonus for women... the association between green tea consumption lowering death rates appeared to be stronger in women. The women who drank 5 or more cups of green tea per day had a 31% lower risk of cardiovascular death.
I think I'm going to ponder this a little more as I sip my afternoon cup of Blueberry Green Tea (by the Republic of Tea).
~~Elaine
Related Topics: Green Tea Fights Fat, Green Tea May Do Wonders for the Brain
Technorati Tags: greentea, tea, healthy, japanesestudy, cardiovascularhealth
I expect that we'll see more and more research being published on the health benefits of green tea over the coming years. Years from now when it becomes a well-known fact that drinking green tea is one of the best things you can do for your health, you can think back and say, "Hey, this must be what that Elaine Magee Recipe Doctor lady was trying to tell us!"
This week another provacative study on green tea was published (Journal of the American Medical Association Sept. 13, 2006) and I'm so excited about it.
This study involved over 40,000 Japanese adults age 40 to 79, living in northeastern Japan, where 80% of the population drinks green tea and half of these people drink 3 or more cups a day. The study started in 1994 and the participants who had no history of stroke, coronary heart disease, or cancer at baseline were followed for 11 years.
The researchers found that as green tea consumption went up, all-cause of death went down including death from cardiovascular disease. The people who drank 5 or more cups of green tea per day saw a 26% decrease in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality at the 7 year mark. And here's the bonus for women... the association between green tea consumption lowering death rates appeared to be stronger in women. The women who drank 5 or more cups of green tea per day had a 31% lower risk of cardiovascular death.
I think I'm going to ponder this a little more as I sip my afternoon cup of Blueberry Green Tea (by the Republic of Tea).
~~Elaine
Related Topics: Green Tea Fights Fat, Green Tea May Do Wonders for the Brain
Technorati Tags: greentea, tea, healthy, japanesestudy, cardiovascularhealth
45 Comments:
Dear Elaine, I too am a tea sipper. Until about a year ago, I used Splenda. After checking it out and finding out just how it is made, I relalized I needed to find something 'natural and wholesome". I checked out Stevia. It is a nutritive additive and I use it in my tea, if I don't use honey.Thanks for your info.
KMG
I actually like my tea unsweetened (lucky me).
Even iced tea for me is unsweetened. But I'm glad you are finding a solution to sweeten your tea, KMG!
--Elaine Magee
Does green tea have caffeine? I know that when I attended a Japanese tea ceremony, the tea prepared had super high doses of caffeine, a substance which I've removed from my diet.
Thanks
KC
I bought some green tea in the bottle under the name Arizona with 17 grams of suger. seems like a lot to me. What say you, should I make my own and sweeten with splenda?
My naturopath put me on a product called theanine, an extract of green tea. It works wonders to help me sleep, taken at bedtime. It is an extract of green tea, without all the caffeine which I can do without, and I still get all the benefits of green tea.
What about the affects of Green Tea on Folic Acid absorbtion?
Yes Green Tea has caffeine but generally low amounts compared to regular tea and coffee, for example. The Republic of Tea has decaf green tea varieties too!
--Elaine
Right now I'm drinking Diet Lipton Green Tea with citrus natural flavors, with 72 mg of antioxidants per serving (8 oz).
Dear Elaine, can you tell me if drinking a mug of green tea has any effect with the absorption of certain medications, ex. thyroid or cholesterol? I have been told that it might...
nestea has a good diet iced green tea;even an old time coffee(only cold) drinker like me enjoyed it
Heidi says:
"Green Tea Rocks", just a nice warm cup in the AM and one in the afternoon is perfect.
Enjoy :)
I've heard it's helps keep you from getting constipated. Is that true and if so how many cups should I drink a day?
i LOVE MY COFFEE, BUT I LOVE GREEN TEA, IN THE AFTERNOON AND FIND THAT WHEN I'M FEELING LIKE A COLD COMING ON, THE GREEN TEA KNOCKS IT OUT. I AGREE, THE DIET LIPTON WITH CITRUS IS GREAT!
Elaine
As with all "natural" remedies, I am wondering if there is any idea of what the active principle(s) is/are. Is there any standardization for activity? Regardless, green tea is looking very promising. Have you any data on pomogranate juice for conditions other than prostate cancer??
ALL WELL AND GOOD DRINKING ALL THAT TEA, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET UP A DOZEN TIMES AT NIGHT TO COMPENSATE FOR IT.
Is there decafinated green tea?
I am a green tea holic...but lately I had been getting acid reflux...I started eliminating certain habits...and guess what...it was the green tea...so now I can only drink it early in the day....ohh I also lost about 20 pounds....
Elaine, why is there no provision for sending this/any other article "to a friend"?
Btw, pomegranate and/or grapefruit juice is NOT adviseable for people/diabetics on medication!
To get the ultimte benefit from green tea it should be the uncut, rolled leaf bulk variety, and the water temperature should be not boiling, but around 180 degrees F - tea bags are chopped up and have lost alot of potential benefits - seep time is three minutes - if you want to decaf the bulk tea - after 30 seconds pour off the water and then repour fresh water on the wet tea leaves - caffeiene is very water soluable and most of it is removed from the leaves in the first 20-30 seconds
Regarding the comments about caffeine in tea: There are so many myths and misconceptions. Here's the scoop per my research and nutritionist's in my life.
The caffeine in tea metabolizes differently from the caffeine in coffee. Tea caffeine doesn't give the heart rush or wide awake effect of coffee. This is because tea caffeine interacts with the body's processes in entirely different ways from coffee caffeine. It is a mistake to equate these two caffeines in any way.
Teas whether roasted dark or unroasted i.e. green contain caffeine it is true. And as is true of coffee, the darker the roast in tea the less caffeine in the consumed product. In other words, a light roast coffee or a green or white tea has more caffeine than the darker roasts of the same coffee beans or tea leaves.
I am a green tea drinker and I also drink caffeinated coffee. I can drink green tea at any time of day, even late evening and it does not impede my ability to get to sleep. Coffee I do not drink after about 3 pm because I find it does interfere with my sleep needs.
The benefits of green tea, especially the antioxidants, are truly remarkable and I prefer the caffeinated version. There are plenty of non-caffeinated green teas available now, where I live, in all the major supermarkets. The best place to buy green tea though(for quality and for good prices) is an asian market if you have one in your town or city.
Oh and yes, my nutritionists recommend stevia (a natural herb in use in Latin America for 1000's of years) as a sweetener over any of the other non-sugar choices... all of which are chemically created.
If you need to use a sweetener and can't use sugar... use stevia is what I have been told. It has no calories too! TaDA!
Does it make a difference if the green tea is hot or iced?
Just got the results of my latest cholesterol check. Fully expected to be put on meds (last report was 228) This time 160 with everything just "perfect" according to the dr. Only thing I have done differently is eat out almost every nite at a Chinese restaurant, where I drink 1-2 qt. of green jasmine tea. I haven't changed eating habits (although I should!)-still eating egg rolls and crab rangoon.
As a replacement for Green Tea it is best to get White Tea. Ti is the purest and most potent in antioxidants. White Tea is derived from the smallest of the tea leaves which have a whitish tint to it. It can be drunk hot or cold. As a reminder do not use boiling water to prepare tea it will give a bit of bitter taste. Also it should be drunk with out sweeteners.
I have heard that if you take Comudin you should not drink Green tea.Does anyone have any more info on this. I would hate to have to stop my green tea habit.
Hi,
As a health care provider, I advise patients that if they eat or drink something that may interfere with Coumadin, then they just need to do it fairly consistently. This allows us to adjust for it as we get the INR results. So ask your provider; it is likely that as long as you drink a consistent cup or two most days of the week, it won't matter in the long run.
What about these green tea concentrates? I have send several adds for them, but didn't know if they were as good or not.
Stomach upset...
Does anyone have the problem of feeling nauseous after drinking one cup of green tea? I drink 4 cups of coffee in the morning on an empty stomach and never have problems. But a cup of green tea in the afternoon even close to lunch consumption makes me feel a little sick.
Hi Anonymous,
oh yes, I do get nauseated from the green tea, or any tea actually, especially if I drink it on an empty stomach. I do not get sick thank goodness, but it nauseates me so bad it keeps me awake, especially when I have to drive some place because I have progressive multiple sclerosis and fatigue from the MS like you cant begin to imagine (unless you have progressive MS too). I would suggest drinking the green tea with your meals, if you can. Hope this helps a little bit.
Sorry, runningtough2000, I thought you were anonymous. Also forgot to mention I can drink very strong coffee and diet coke on an empty stomach and don't feel nauseated by either. Hope this helps a little bit too. Good luck.
Question? I have read that green tea should be of Japanese origin and the brewing method should be "cold". How do you make a cup of warm tea using a
"cold" brewing method? What is the actual process?
Thanks!
The problem with getting all excited about the green tea study is that it actually doesn't prove anything. Specifically it does not prove that green tea drinkers are any better off healthwise than non-green tea drinkers. That's because it was an observational study, not a double blind, placebo controled study. Don't you all remember how all women going through menopause were encouraged to take Premarin? Wyeth Pharmaceuticals was making a fortune on that, based on the observational studies that seemed to show that women taking estrogens might be able to stay young and healthy forever. Then the NIH funded a massive double blind, placebo controled trial and the results were almost opposite of what everyone expected. The researchers decided that women who took estrogen in the observational studies probably did other things too that were important in keeping them healthy and youthful. But in the double blind trial, all that got sorted out equally between the two groups.
Please remember, an observational study doesn't prove anything!!! If the results look good, you might want to go ahead and do the more rigorously controled study. But how in the world are you going to make a green tea placebo that would fool anyone???
what about drinking decaf green tea when you are pregnant?
I used to drink quite a bit of green tea, but now I do not. Apparently, green tea is known to absorb unusually high concentrations of fluoride and the measurable amounts of fluoride in green tea have gone up drastically in the last ten years. Fluoride is a toxin. Since I have stopped drinking green tea, my joints don't ache as much, although I also use tart cherry juice so this is probably also helping. I do like white tea and haven't heard anything bad about it yet. Hopefully it will stay that way!!
I just started drinking green tea and I was told that it helps with you'r weight is this true?? also I was told that it helps with your digestive system...
I dring three cup bags of green tea with steva leaf to add sweetness for many years.
I started drinking green tead a few
years ago and injoy it for many
reasons. Prior to tea I did very
little caffein only off and on.
I found a white tea that was good
and that was even better. But when
I had about three cup of black tea
my heart rate and BP went way up.
In fact throught the roof. My
BP is usually about 116/70 and
heart rate about 65 to 72. One
day tried the black tea my heart
jumped up to 90 to 110 beats per
minute and BP about 140/80. That
last about an hour or two. No
black tea for me. I stick to white
question - Does decaf green tea have the same nutritional value as caf green tea?
Thinking of trying green tea. Which brands are the best tasting? Which brands are the best at consistancy since I know the FDA does not regulate herbs?
thanks janice
Does adding Splenda or any sweetner decrease the positive effects of green tea?
A frient traveled to China to present a lecture. While there she visited a farm and was shocked to find that the Chinese lay out tea leaves and then run over them with tractors to dry them. After seeing that, she said she was swearing off tea.
I've been drinking teas for years and have looked for articles on ingestion of the tea leaves in general. I would think that eating of the leaf would have a bit more benefits than just drinking them, I do now n then drink and eat the leaves for reasons I can not define other than I would think that they indeed have a bit more to offer than just good drinks.Your thoughts are appreciated.
James
I Love tea in the mornings, right now I have decafinated green tea. I'm also in the early stages of pregnacy. Is it alright to drink decaf tea, I only drink 1/2 to 1 cup in the mornings?
I just started drinking green tea at night. It helps me sleep and used the bathroom in the morning.
It made me realized that drinking tea is not bad at all.
ASC
I drink Lipton's diet green tea, probably 8 glasses a day. I've notice my urine is cloudy and has a foul odor. Has anyone else noticed this effect?
thought i would share this information,,, i was getting a headache on average 5 days a week. I started taking green tea extract caplets. 2 caplets 2x a day. I now have been taking that same dosage for the past 2 months. I couldnt help notice that in the past 2 months while taking this i had to date a total of 2 headaches. I dont see any information on green tea and its affects on headaches... but it is just too obvious to ignore. Getting 2 headaches in the past 2 months compared to when i was getting them almost every day when i wasnt taking the green tea. It really stands out. I am going to continue to take this supplement and hopefully it will continue to keep my headaches at bay.
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