The Magic of Green Tea

The latest corporate health funda is “Green Tea”. It is considered as symbol of high class society and one medicine to all their health issues. Well, of course there is no debate about health benefits of Green Tea; however, I would like to remind the corporate green tea drinkers that, it is a common drink of china. The ancient Chinese proverb says “better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one”.

What is Tea?

Tea is an agricultural product from the dried leaves, buds and twigs of “Camellia sinensis” plant which are prepared and cured under various methods. The beverage- tea is prepared by steeping this tea leaves in hot water. According to Chinese mythology, it is believed that tea was first consumed by legendary Chinese Emperor Shennong who lived 5,000 years ago (around 2,700 BC) and taught ancient China the practice of Agriculture. The tea is second most widely consumed beverage, after water!

What is Green Tea?

Green tea is also the leaves of same “Camellia sinensis” plant, but processed differently. Unlike regular tea, Green tea leaves are not fermented. The young tea leaves are lightly steamed and dried.

Health benefits of Green Tea

Let’s take a look at the composition of Green Tea. The green tea under goes minimal oxidation during it’s processing. The steaming inactivates the enzymes (polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase) and thus preserves polyphenols, the active constituents of tea. So green tea is rich in catechin polyphenols, especially epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant and inhibits growth of cancer cells and kills the cancer cells without harming the healthy tissues. Apart from this, green tea also contains fluorides, manganese, potassium, arotenoids, caffeine and small mounts of theophylline, theobromine, theanine & theaflavin.

Antioxidants are chemical substances that are intimately involved in the prevention of cellular damage and are a security for human health. Anti oxidants can easily interact with these free radicals, scavenge them and terminate the chain reaction before vital molecules are damaged. Free radicals are small, cell damaging molecules, produced by the body as waste products and are linked to every known disease. Antioxidants activity of green tea is 100 times more effective than vitamin C and 25 times than vitamin E.

Green tea polyphenols inhibits amylase and sucrose, so the starch is broken down more slowly and there by blood sugar level is decreased. It is also found to reduce the intestinal absorption of glucose and enhance the insulin activity.

Green tea plays a vital role in maintaining LDH-HDL cholesterol ratio. It reduces the negative effects of bad cholesterol, lowering triglyceride levels and increases the production of good cholesterol. It is also found to inhibit abnormal formation of blood clot (thrombosis) which is a leading cause for heart attacks and strokes.

Green tea protects the joints against cartilage breakdown and reduces inflammation and thereby Arthritis.

Green tea helps in weight loss by increasing the metabolic rate, speed up fat oxidation and by delaying the digestion of carbohydrates.

Ah, here comes the most important benefit!  Green tea has been found to delay the ageing process by preventing the accumulation of free radicals and resultant damage to the DNA and by enhancing the immunity.

The fluoride contents in green tea helps in preventing tooth decay and fight cavities by inhibiting the growth of oral bacteria. It kills the bacteria that cause dental plague and bad breath.So here is green tea for for your perfect smile.

Last, but not the least, on topical application, green tea protects the skin against damage caused by UV rays and also act as skin rejuvenant.

Some additional tips for new green tea drinkers.

• Usually twisted leafs are considered better than the powdered green tea. Japanese variety called “Matcha” is an exception, because its of a very high quality.
• Leaf tea are supposed to be brewed longer than the powdered tea.
• Japanese ” Matcha” is in fact brewed in the teapot itself & the leafs are supposed to de ingested too, because the veins of these leaves have been carefully removed.
• Do not spoil the benefits of this wonderful tea by adding milk or sugar.
• If you are finding it difficult to adjust to the taste of green tea, add few drops of honey or lemon juice to ease your transition into this habit.

A green tea a day keeps the doctor away.

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