Facts You Must Know About Your Green Tea

During ancient times, the Chinese have studied and proved the medicinal properties and benefits of green tea. It is found that green tea has many health benefits compared to other food or drinks. It is used by the Chinese people to cure simple headaches to depression. Green tea had been used as medicine for 4,000 years proving only that it is one of the most common remedy among many illness.

Facts about Green Tea

• Reduces the risk of having cancer by inhibiting the growth of cancer cells especially on the colon, pancreas, rectum, bladder, esophagus, and stomach without harming healthy cells

• Helpful for those who have rheumatoid arthritis

• Reduce the risk of having hypertension and elevated blood pressure

• Reduces the cholesterol level in the body

• Increases metabolism

• Helps body to fight viruses and bacteria by improving the defense action of the immune system

• Reduces the process of thrombosis which helps reduce heart attacks and strokes

• Green tea also helps destroy free radicals

• Helps in reducing fatigue and stress due to its calming action

• Fights cardio vascular diseases

• Green tea is also known for its antibacterial anti viral properties

• The secret of green tea is its catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin (EGCG) which is a powerful anti oxidants

• EGCG is twice as powerful as reservatol whose action is to lower the incidence of heart disease

• Green tea comes from Camelia sinesis plant

• What sets green tea apart from other tea is the way it was processed, green tea leaves are steamed which prevents the important contents from being oxidized

• By contrast other tea brands are made from fermented tea leaves; as a result the other components are converted into other compounds that are not as effective as that of green tea

• New evidence suggests that green tea helps dieters by eliminating fat from the body and helps the body burn more calories compared to caffeine or a placebo

• Green tea can even help prevent tooth decay

• The bacterial actions of green tea can help prevent food poisoning

• Wide variety of beauty products now contains green tea are available in the market that claims to have great effect in beauty and wellness

• Green tea capsules are now available in health stores for those who don’t want to drink tea

• A cup of green tea contains caffeine level of 20 to 70 milligrams

• There are several kinds of green tea that are available in the market they differ on the amount of caffeine content

Harmful effects

To the present study and research green tea have proven a lot of benefits and medicinal properties but when it comes to harmful effects of green tea had been reported to contribute to insomnia or difficulty of sleep experienced by users. Green tea is advised to be taken at least 3 to 4 cups daily and not to be taken as substitute for water.

Caffeine is the ingredient found in green tea that contributes to sleeping difficulty but its caffeine contents is less compared to that of coffee and black tea. Other components of green tea must also be controlled for it can contribute to liver problems.

For pregnant mothers and for under medications it is important to ask your doctor before consuming the beverage for some components of green tea might have reactions with other compounds found in medications.

The Side Effects of Green Tea During Pregnancy

It is very important to monitor the health of pregnant women to ensure the health of the mother and the baby. Some expectant mothers are quite anxious because of the various changes that take place in their body. Doctors often recommmend a diet regimen for pregnant mothers and if you're among those pregnant women out there, you should be extra careful with your food intake to avoid any problems or complications.

According to some studies, drinking too much green tea during pregnancy is not good. Why is that? Well, doctors and researchers were able to prove that green tea contains caffeine. Caffeine intake is discouraged during pregnancy because of certain side effects.

Despite the many health benefits of green tea which includes preventing cancer, improving the heart's health, boosting the immune system, aids digestion, lowers cholesterol, dental health, lowers the level of blood sugar, and many others, it is not advisable to drink green tea when you're pregnant.

Studies have proven that green tea contains EGCG or epigallocatechins which affects the use of folate in the body. Folate is very important during pregnancy because it can help in preventing birth defects in the neural tube. EGCG becomes harmful in pregnancy because it resembles the structure of methotrexate. The latter can get rid of cancer cells by bonding an enzyme called DHFR or dihydrofolate reductase.

The folate pathway contains these enzymes and since the EGCG is similar to methotrexate, it also binds with the enzyme and when this happens, the enzyme is inactivated. Once the enzymes are inactivated, the body can't use folate effectively. There hasn't been any conclusive studies which show how much green tea a pregnant woman should consume or how much folate can be affected.

Some doctors recommend pregnant women to drink moderate amount of tea as well as coffee. If you're still unaware, green tea also contains caffeine and when you're pregnant, it's not good to drink a lot of beverages which contain caffeine. So if you want to be extra sure, don't forget to ask your doctor next time you have an appointment. Always keep in mind that your health and that of your baby is of great importance.

Besides, there are already studies which proves caffeine to cause miscarriage and lower birth weight among babies. Drinking around six cups of coffee per day can definitely affect your baby's weight at birth. If you don't want your baby to suffer, you can have a cup of coffee a day or if you want, you can just stop drinking coffee. The caffeine content in green tea is lower than that of coffee and so you can drink more than one cup; but as said earlier, ask your doctor about it first.

Pregnancy will only take nine months and so you need to enjoy it. Even if you experience a lot of body changes, just think that you will rejoice the day your precious baby comes. If you can avoid drinking caffeined drinks, then try to stay away from them.

Although the health benefits of green tea are remarkable, it does contain caffeine and no study has yet established the right amount of green tea intake especially among pregnant women. If you're not pregnant and you don't have any problems related to caffeine intake, then you can drink as many tea as you like. Right now, be careful in drinking green tea; perhaps you can settle for a small cup every other day just to satisfy your thirst for it.
When you feel anything abnormal, seek the help of your doctor at once. Besides, its just going to be for nine months and after that, you can resume in drinking tea again. Aside from not taking caffeinated drinks, you're also not allowed to take just any kind of medicine because it can be harmful to your baby.

It goes without saying always think of your baby's safety before you do anything.

Green Tea Fat Burning Benefits

More and more people are getting hooked up with green tea. Especially those that belongs to the category that is a bit larger than life. Green tea has been proven to loosen that weight gaining body. Overweight is becoming a problem in major growing countries. As a person grows heavier and bigger, their risk for acquiring a disease is incredibly higher. But because of the impressive effects of green tea, gaining weight can no longer be a health threat.

Measure of gaining weight

There are a lot of reasons why people exhibits unwanted weight gain. First, because of their lifestyle. With someone who has the capacity to buy every single food on earth, gaining weight is easy. A person’s lifestyle can definitely predict how healthy a person is. If the person’s lifestyle is rich, he will have all the money in the world to engage in bad eating habits like increased consumption of alcohol, junk foods and fatty foods.

Another reason for gaining weight is lack of exercise.
Without physical using up of excess fats in your body, there is a great possibility for them to be stored and not to be used up ever again. Exercise is very crucial for people, especially bigger ones. Exercise can lower the risk of a lot of diseases thus, keeping your body fit and at the same time working healthy.

Mental problem is another factor researchers are looking into why people suddenly gain weight. One very good example is depression. When a person is depressed, instead of crying her heart out, she gobbles up everything inside the fridge. Which can be very unhealthy.

Modern solution to chubbiness

Today, for someone to get slimmer, a lot of people are resulting to surgery. Surgical procedures that costs a lot are oftentimes the last resort of really big people who wanted to be small in an instant. Liposuction is one type of surgical procedure that answers to fat reduction.

Green tea to the rescue

Yes, the above stated solution can be very effective but people go into the risk of having major or minor side effects. There is a better way to eliminate those fats naturally. And the answer is, green tea. This is a different kind of tea which have numerous benefits aside from being a reliable fat burner. By incorporating green tea to every meal, a person taking it will experience soothing effects. There are three things that fat burning green tea can do:

1. Increase Calorie Burning

Usage of green tea can accelerate the metabolism of calories inside the human body. This processing is called as thermogenesis. What green tea does is that it increases the heat inside the body thus, increasing metabolism and resulting to calorie burn-up.

2. Diminishing Appetite

Green tea aids in controlling one’s appetite. When a person’s appetite is controlled, the result will be, not wanting to eat. Nutrients that compose green tea signals to the brain and stomach that makes a person lose his appetite thus resulting in lesser food intake.

3. Energy levels are elevated

Green tea can shoot positive signals to the mind that enables the improvement of positive mental attitude. Because green tea compounds act on almost all systems in a human’s body, it tends to put the mind in a relaxed and positive state that make the body feel more balanced and in sync.

Green Tea - Why Drink It?

In Asia, green tea is quite popular. For many generations, the tea has already been a part of family gatherings and even their day to day lives. There are various reasons why Asian people loved to drink green tea. Aside from its excellent taste, you can also derive some health benefits from drinking green tea. Recently, medical communities and the western countries have recognized the benefits of drinking green tea. There are various reasons why individuals should drink tea and these reasons are found in this article.

The very first reason is that green tea is something different. You're probably used to drinking softdrinks, coffee, fruit juices, and other beverages. Green tea is something new that you should try out. It's not everyday that you get to encounter something unique in terms of taste and most specially, very few beverages have health benefits.

Most Americans drink coffee several times a day and since it contains a larger amount of caffeine, some people are already looking into substituting green tea instead. You will surely enjoy the tea's nutty aroma and its sweet grassy flavor. Although some studies show that green tea also has caffeine, there are now decaffeinated green tea sold in the market.

Still, if you want to go for the traditional green tea, it would help to know that the caffeine content is lesser as compared to coffee. Some people get jitters and you can avoid this by taking green tea in moderate amounts. Those who plan to stay late or those who work at night should drink green tea instead of coffee to help them stay awake.

The second reason why people should drink tea is that it contains healing properties. Because of today's advanced science, many medical experts are discovering green tea's healing properties. Green tea is mainly made up of antioxidants which can help in improving the overall health of an individual. If you lack energy to carry out the day's tasks and chores, don't forget to drink your tea because you will feel a burst of energy especially if you drink it everyday.

Healthy cells are also promoted by drinking tea. There are still other health benefits that you can take advantage. You see, if you drink green tea, you can prevent heart diseases, cancer, and other health problems. Those who often get sick should take tea in order to boost the immune system's health. People with weight problems can also take green tea instead of water and juices to reduce weight since the tea can suppress appetite. You can take it anytime you like, before meals, during, and after meals.

Are there still other reasons that you can think of? So far, there is no other beverage that can give you a lot of health benefits. If you go to the groceries, you can find different kinds of green tea preparations. It would be best if you can grow a tea plant so that you can prepare the original serving. But anyway, since people today live a busy lifestyle, they always prefer the instant - from food to their drinks. There are now bottled green tea which you can purchase and they are ready to drink. Hurry and go to the local grocery now to purchse your green tea.

If you want, you can also take supplements of green tea but before you buy any, ask your doctor first. It would also be good if you check product reviews regarding the supplements. That way, you will know which brands sell more and which are effective. Seek the doctor's advice before taking any health supplement so that your actions can be guided, most especially if you're a pregnant woman or if you have certain allergies and illnesses.

If the Asian people benefited from green tea for hundreds of years, then there's probably no reason why you shouldn't try it yourself. Medical communities are already promoting the intake of green tea, so don't be left behind. Join other people who are now discovering the health benefits of drinking tea.

Caffeine in Green Tea

How true is it that one disadvantage of green tea is insomnia because of its caffeine content? You may put it as a “disadvantage” but people who works on a night shift will disagree. True, green tea contains caffeine but compared to coffee and other tea, it has a lesser level but has a very incredible amount of antioxidants.

What is caffeine?

It is a kind of drug that acts as a stimuli that basically stimulates the central nervous system and the heart. A person having caffeine in his system can instantly increase his blood pressure but not having any evidence of definitive long-term effects in the blood pressure itself. Long term increase of blood pressure are still taking excessive amounts of green tea.

Caffeine content in green tea stays unless it is decaffeinated. According to studies, green tea is more likely to be higher than coffee but with preparation, a person can greatly reduce the caffeine that the body takes in. how? Through the infusion length of hot water and how many times you have used the leaves.

Surprisingly, caffeine in green tea is more beneficial than the caffeine taken from coffee. It works through the body in a slighter difference than coffee. Aside from caffeine, green tea has other constituents that work perfectly with caffeine namely vitamins, oils and tannin.

Caffeine difference

As mentioned, compared to coffee, the caffeine content in green tea can have a different approach in the human body. By its own substance, it doesn’t have to trigger increase heart rate and blood pressure unlike what caffeine can instantly do. Typically, green tea is more applicable to drink for those who wanted to lose weight but are caffeine sensitive.

Lose weight with caffeine
Base on studies, caffeine has the capacity to increase metabolism inside the body which results to helping out the body in burning excess calories. Caffeine content in green tea is undoubtedly more prominent than other beverages but you can lessen it based on the kind of green tea that you have chosen to drink. Contrary to what other people know, oxidation doesn’t have the capacity to raise the caffeine content in the body. Truth is, some studies were made and is found out that the longer the oxidation is, the lower the content of caffeine will be present.

Green tea without caffeine
For medicinal purposes, green tea is sometimes made caffeine free. Green tea that is decaffeinated has a more pleasant taste and has an impressive antioxidant activity. It is very effective in the prevention and even treatment of cancer, decreasing cholesterol levels, collagen formation, decreasing triglyceride levels and preventing arteriosclerosis.

Therefore, with caffeine present in green tea, it can decrease the metabolic processes going significantly inside our body but not having any effect on blood pressure and heart rate.

Caffeine content

Compared to the caffeine found in black tea, green tea is only composed by the half of it. And compared to coffee, green tea only has quarter amounts thus, making it the perfect beverage you can include in your meals. But there are precautions that should be followed. One which is the moderate amount of green tea that should be consumed within a day. It should only be at least 4 cups. More than that will generate negative reactions that is felt inside the body.

The introduction of decaffeinated supplementary green tea, benefits were further provided ruling out any unwanted effects.