Green Tea Benefits

Green tea is the ancient elixir that has kept emperors and kings healthy for thousands of years.  But is this drink worth it?  Can it actually improve your health?

Before you decide, it’s important to note that the green tea benefits have been widely documented—not only in Eastern culture and medicine…but from the people who actually drink it.

But, if you're like many people, you may be wondering what is green tea good for?

Table of Contents

What Is Green Tea?

Antioxidant Profile of Green Tea

What Is EGCG and How Does it Improve Health

Benefits of Green Tea

Benefits of Green Tea Extract

The Final Wrap

What Is Green Tea?

One of the most widely used drinks in the world is green tea.  Next to water, this powerful elixir is the second most consumed beverage around the world.

In Eastern cultures, it’s been used for thousands of years as a powerful drink for improving a wide range of health issues. 

From diabetes to heart disease (even cancer), green tea has shown promise for slowing or reducing the progression of some of the ailments impacting our life today.

Even though it’s been used for thousands of years in Eastern cultures…it’s only started to grab a foothold in Western countries.

It’s important to note that all tea brands come from the Camellia sinensis plant.   Although different parts of the plant may be used, most tea comes from the leaves, buds, and stems of the plant.

Green tea is made from the leaves and buds, and has not gone through the same oxidation process commonly found with black and Oolong tea brands.

Green tea, once picked, is quickly heated (either pan-fried or steamed) to prevent too much oxidation from occurring.  This saves the fragile antioxidants found in the tea leaves from being destroyed by high temperatures.
Thanks to the heating process found in green tea leaves, there may be a higher concentration of key antioxidants available your overall health.

Antioxidant Profile In Green Tea

Antioxidants are powerful nutrients that add a number of health benefits for your body.  From lowering cholesterol and improving brain health, increasing your antioxidant level could benefit your health in the long run.

And this is one of the main reasons why people drink green tea.   Although antioxidants may prevent age-related diseases from creeping up on you, one of their main jobs is to lower oxidative stress and inflammation.

Oxidative stress occurs when an unstable cell attacks healthy tissue. And when this happens, inflammation levels increase to cause various health issues.  

Inflammation may be responsible for:

• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Age-related brain diseases
• Cancer
• Weight gain
• Liver issues
• Lowered kidney function
• …and so much more

As you can see, inflammation plays a large role in how healthy you are.   But…if you increase your antioxidant profile, you may see dramatic drops in your inflammation levels, and improvements in your health.

And including green tea is a great way to accomplish this.  One cup of green tea rushes powerful antioxidants to your body, therefore reducing and improving your inflammation levels.

Green tea contains the powerful antioxidant, EGCG, catechins, andpolyphenols that improve your health and protect your cells from damage.

What Is EGCG and How Does It Improve Health?

As far as antioxidants go, EGCG is one of the most widely researched nutrients, and has shown tremendous promise when it comes to overall health improvements.  This plant-based compound has been shown to potentially impact your health in positive ways.

It has been shown to reduce inflammation, aid in weight loss, and may protect your heart and brain from free radicals.

Although EGCG may be found in various plants, it’s the main antioxidant found in green tea.  And this is the main driving force behind the many benefits you can expect from green tea.

But the question still remains:

What is green tea good for?

Benefits of Green Tea

Although the antioxidants are responsible for lowering inflammation and preventing damage from oxidative stress, green tea may provide other helpful benefits for your body.

Green tea benefits may:  

1. Contain Powerful Health-Boosting Nutrients

As you know, green tea contains powerful nutrients that improve your health.  You’ve already learned about EGCG, which is a powerful antioxidant linked to numerous health benefits.

But there is far more than EGCG that is found in green tea.

Green tea also contains polyphenols, or natural compounds found in tea that could lower inflammation, and reduce your risk for cancer and other diseases.

Green tea may also contain small amounts of the minerals your body needs to stay healthy and fit.

2. Boost Fat Loss

I am sure you’ve seen green tea marketed as a fat loss aid.  In fact, many different supplements on the market may contain green tea extract due to itheir fat-burning power.

According to numerous studies, green tea could increase your metabolic rate—or the rate at which you burn calories.

One study, in particular, showed green tea to increase metabolic rate by a whopping 17%.  This may not seem like a lot…but when this occurs each day, you may notice a significant difference in your weight and body fat percentage.

One added fat loss benefit to green tea is the caffeine.  Some studies suggest that caffeine (found naturally in green tea) may be more efficient at freeing up fatty acids to be used as a source of energy.

3. Slow Brain “Aging”

It’s not just your skin that ages—your brain does too.  So does every cell in your body.

But when your brain starts to age, you may see a harder time recalling information, poor memory, slower learning, and decline in cognitive function.

And this could increase the likelihood that you may develop one (or more) age-related brain disorders, most notable dementia, Alzheimer’s, or Parkinson’s.

But including green tea may help.  Thanks to the antioxidants, polyphenols, and other protective compounds, green tea may slow brain aging and could have a protective effect on your brain neurons.

4. Be A Protective Measure Against Diabetes

The cases of diabetes are exploding around the world, with more and more people being diagnosed each day.

What’s worse…there are hundreds of thousands of people living with diabetes—who don’t even realize they have it.

But green tea has shown promise in lowering your risk for this often silent, but deadly, disease.  Diabetes, a disease highlighted by excessively high blood sugar levels, is often caused by a poor insulin release or your body being unable to use insulin effectively.

Green tea, however, may lower blood sugar levels and increase insulin sensitivity—both actions that could lead to better blood sugar control.

One study on green tea and diabetes showed a 42% lower risk for the diabetes compared to those who didn’t drink green tea.

5. Improve Heart Disease Risk

Heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women around the world.   This disease, which is often caused by hardening of your arteries, plaque buildup that causes heart attacks and strokes, and high blood pressure, will kill more people worldwide than any other disease combined.

Studies show that green tea may lower cholesterol—especially LDL levels—which could protect your arteries from clogs that often lead to heart attacks.

And since green tea is packed full of antioxidants, it may lower the risk for LDL particles becoming oxidized, which often is the first step to cardiovascular disease development.

But:

It’s not just drinking the tea that will add benefit to your health.  Many different supplements include green tea extract—which is a “defined, decaffeinated green tea polyphenol mixture isolated from the Camellia sinensis plant.”

This extract may give you all the benefits of green tea—without having to drink it.  Even though there may be many green tea benefits, green tea extract may add significant health benefits as well.

Benefits Of Green Tea Extract

As you know, green tea is one of the most widely consumed drinks in the world.  But, if you’re not a tea drinker, you may be wondering how you can get green tea in your diet.

The simple answer is: Green tea extract.  

You can get the same benefits of green tea by using green tea extract.  Green tea extract, which is a highly concentrated form of green tea, may contain all the polyphenols and nutrients you would expect to find in green tea.

…which should come as welcome news for those who don’t drink tea.

So what are the benefits of green tea extract you should expect to see?

Although you may see the same benefits as green tea, most of the benefits of green tea extract may be associated with weight loss.

Let’s take a look at a few other benefits of green tea extract:

1. Rich in Antioxidants

Since green tea extract is a concentrated form of green tea, you may get a much higher concentration of antioxidant and polyphenols, namely the compound EGCG.

And this could be the main driving factors behind the benefits of green tea extract.

As you know, antioxidants are powerful compounds that reduce the impact of oxidative stress.   And the more antioxidants you have, the higher your antioxidant capacity may climb.

This could add plenty of protective compounds for your health, therefore reducing inflammation and chronic disease risk.

2. Improves Brain Health

One of the benefits of green tea—and its extract—is the improvement you may see in your brain health.

It may prevent damage to neurons, which could lower your risk for age-related brain disorders, like dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s.

But one of the greatest benefits of green tea extract is the power it has on lowering certain minerals that could lead to mental decline.  Studies often show that green tea extract may lower copper and iron, which could have a damaging effect on your brain cells.

3. Boosts Weight Loss

In order to boost weight loss, you need to increase your metabolic rate.  And one way to do this is with the combination of catechins and caffeine found in green tea extract.

Numerous studies show that this combination may increase your metabolic rate, therefore boosting your overall weight loss.

Not only does this help you boost overall weight loss, it may help your body become more efficient at burning calories.

As you can see, the benefits of green tea extract may be very powerful.  Besides brain health, weight loss, and the antioxidant capacity of green tea extract, you may also see benefits in heart health, liver health, and lower inflammation levels.

The Final Wrap

Green tea has been used for thousands of years as a way to extend longevity and improve overall health.

It has been used to treat heart disease, diabetes, age-related brain diseases, and cancer.  Green tea is packed full of antioxidants, polyphenols, and catechins which are the main drivers to the health benefits you may receive from consuming green tea.

Study after study shows this drink to be one of the strongest ways to boost your overall health.  Just one to two cups (or more) each day could add tremendous benefits to your health.

If you’re looking for an easy way to protect your health, the benefits of green tea are unmatched.  

READ:
This Has Been Linked To Successful Aging.  How You Can Benefit From This Powerful Compound

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