Wonderful Chinese Green Tea

If you haven’t tasted green tea lately, you should. It is a great tea for cooling down on hot summer days. Green tea is probably one of the most popular of the Chinese teas. Green tea fights off inflammation and leaves you feeling cool. Some even say it fight off a fever.

People all over the world know about the benefits of wonderful green tea. It has been known since ancient Chinese culture to have medicinal properties. The Chinese use green tea to fight off a wide range of illnesses, including headaches and depression. The Chinese have used green tea as a medicine for four thousand years, according to Nadine Taylor. You can read more about it in her book, “Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life”.

Many scientific researchers are uncovering the health benefits of drinking green tea, both in Asia and across the West. The results of an epidemiological study from 1994 indicate that drinking Chinese green tea lowers the risk of esophageal cancer by nearly sixty percent, according to the Journal of National Cancer Institute. In fact, researchers at Purdue University in Indiana report that compounds in green tea prevent the growth of cancer cells.

Not only has green tea been implicated in the fight against cancer, it has been shown to have positive effects on cardiovascular disease, and high cholesterol. Green tea has also been noted to have positive effects on reducing rheumatoid arthritis, and improving immune function.

What is so special about Green Tea?

One of green teas best attributes is that it is rich in catechin polyphenols. It is particularly high in epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is an anti-oxidant that has been shown to fight and kill off cancer cells. It can do this without harming the healthy tissue. EGCG has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol, and prevents the abnormal formation of blood clots, otherwise known as thrombosis. Thrombosis is a main trigger in stroke and heart attacks.

It has even been found that the French Paradox, which is essentially that the French have a diet high in fat intake and yet have lower rates of heart disease than other cultures, has been associated with green tea. It has been widely accepted that the French paradox was due to their high intake of red wine, which contains the health beneficial substance, resveratrol. This potent polyphenol has been shown to combat the effects of smoking cigarettes, and also fights off the bad effects of a high fat diet. What’s more, is that green tea, in a 1997 study, was found to contain twice the amount of resveratrol than does red wine. To add more evidence to the powerful affects of green tea, despite the fact that approximately 70 percent of Chinese men are smokers, they have a lower rate of heart disease than Americans.

More Benefits

More benefits are beginning to be uncovered about the wonderful green tea. One claim is that green tea helps one lose weight. One study showed that men given a combo pack of green tea and caffeine had higher metabolic rate and burned more fat than men given a placebo and caffeine.

It has even been said to fight tooth decay and food poisoning. This is due to some natural antibiotic properties found in Chinese green tea. Its antibacterial effects extend outside of the body to the skin as well. One can even find skin creams, deodorants and blemish fighting creams that contain green tea.