Green Tea

What is green tea good for? According to dozens of studies, regularly drinking this tea may reduce your risk of developing heart disease or Alzheimer’s, help you maintain better bone mineral density, ward off eye diseases that affect vision in older age, prevent strokes, and even extend your life.

Benefits

1. Helps Protect Heart Health

A great deal of evidence from randomized controlled trials suggests that the consumption of flavan-3-ols and anthocyanidin antioxidants, the types found in green tea, is beneficial for metabolic and cardiovascular health. When it comes to preventing many of the risk factors for heart disease, such as having high blood pressure or cholesterol levels, some evidence shows that green tea contains 10 beta-blocking compounds, seven calcium channel blockers, and 16 diuretic compounds. It also has more ACE-inhibiting properties than many other plant foods that are commonly consumed, which helps increase the amount of blood your heart pumps and lowers blood pressure.

2. May Help Prevent Alzheimer’s or Memory Loss

In 2004, scientists at the University of Newcastle studied the effects of black and green tea on Alzheimer’s disease. In laboratory studies, both teas prevented the breakdown of acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter strongly linked with memory. The teas also inhibited enzymes known as BuChE and beta-secretase. These enzymes are found in protein deposits found in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients.

3. Helps Protect Brain Cells From Free Radical Damage

Salk Institute researchers found that the flavonoid epicatechin, found in blueberries, cocoa, grapes, and tea, improved memory ability in mice. The researchers found that epicatechin seemed to promote blood vessel growth in the brain.

4. May Help Prevent Diabetes or Insulin Resistance

Certain studies indicate that the intake of flavan-3-ols and/or anthocyanidins found in green tea may improve glycemic control and help normalize blood sugar levels. Due to its anti-inflammatory properties, green tea is believed to be beneficial for those who are at risk or diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Green tea’s catechins, especially EGCG, appear to have anti-obesity and antidiabetic effects.

5. Promotes Bone Health

When the bone cells of rats were exposed to green tea catechins, EGC in particular stimulated an enzyme that promotes bone growth by 79 percent. The catechins also increased bone mineralization and weakened the activity of cells that reabsorb bone rather than form it.

6. Prevents Eye Disease and Protects Vision

One study that was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry investigated the effects of catechins on eye diseases and found that consuming more catechins may help protect the eyes from oxidative damage and vision loss.

Scientists involved in the study found evidence that catechins can pass from the digestive tract of rodents to the tissues of their eyes and reduce oxidative stress for up to 20 hours after ingestion.

7. May Reduce Your Appetite

Does green tea burn fat, and will drinking green tea help you lose more weight? According to some research findings, consuming antioxidants found in green tea, especially catechins and the compound called EGCG, may promote metabolic health and modestly prevent weight gain. When 11 studies and articles were included in one 2009 meta-analysis that was published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers found that “catechins or an epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)-caffeine mixture have a small positive effect on weight loss and weight maintenance.”