Green
Tea Health Benefits
Antioxidants
EGCG, or epigallocatechin gallate, is what makes green
tea so healthy. EGCG is just one of many, many different antioxidants.
For example, you've probably heard of lycopene before; if nowhere else,
advertised on a bottle of Heinz ketchup. Watermelon also has high concentrations
of lycopene. So, green tea has antioxidants. What sorts of things can
EGCG do?
Cancer
One of the major things that recent studies have revealed
is that EGCG reduces carcinogenesis. In other words, it prevents cancer.
This is because the antioxidants neutralize free-radicals, which cause
cancer. Many different types of cancer can be helped. For example, cancers
of the esophagus, lungs, prostate, stomach, and others. For more on the
specifics of how antioxidants prevent cancer, take a look at the article
below on antioxidants.
Oral Health
Green tea is also said to help oral health; this is because
of it's high fluoride content. Fluoride is a major ingredient in many
oral health products, such as toothpaste. It can help with the remineralization
of teeth by attracting calcium and other essential minerals to places
where enamel has broken down. This all to say green tea helps preventing
tooth decay. Some people are concerned that if one consumes too much tea,
it will result in toxic levels of fluoride. This is unlikely, because
the amount of fluoride contained in green tea is small enough where one
would have to drink gross amounts to sustain any serious health problems.
On a minor note, green tea is said to reduce bad breath. Personally I
find if I drink a cup before I go to bed, I don't have morning breath.
Immnune System
It is also said green tea can build impaired immune systems
up. A compound called Theanine is present in green tea. This compound
can boost the ability of 'gamma delta T cells' to fight infections. A
'gamma delta T cell' is a type of white blood cell, which is the bodies
main first line of defense. By strengthening the white blood cells, Theanine
is basically better equipping the infantry of the body to fight against
hostile forces.
Metabolism
Another thing green tea is said to do is speed up metabolism.
Some say it is good to drink green tea after a meal to help break down
food more effectively. Metabolism divided into two parts; catabolism and
anabolism. Catabolism is the process that creates energy, and anabolism
uses energy to complete tasks such as building cells. When your body breaks
down food, certain damaging chemicals are produced; things such as hydrogen
peroxide. To fight this, your body has a complicated set of enzymes to
detoxify these chemicals. As you may have guessed, antioxidants can help
to boost this process greatly. When the antioxidants mop up these chemicals,
more of the enzymes can concentrate on breaking down food for energy,
thus speeding catabolism (and thus metabolism).
Relaxation
It is also said that green tea can relax and calm the
nerves. This may sound a bit absurd, but it really isn't when you look
closer. Green tea contains a compound called 'Theanine'. Like Alcohol,
this compound can cross the blood-brain barrier, but unlike alcohol, it
does not have an adverse affect. It can relieve both mental and physical
stress, and even in repeated extremely high doses has little or no adverse
affects--physical or psychological.
Other Types of Tea
So, is green tea special? Is it much better than say,
black tea? Or white tea? Well, originally, green tea was considered to
be much better, which is understandable. Anything 'green' or 'natural'
now-a-days immediately gains for itself a healthy connotation. Black tea
is oxidized completely, while green tea is for the most part not. In the
tea-making community, the oxidation process is called 'fermentation',
although technically no fermentation is taking place. This has also contributed
somewhat to the negative connotation of black tea. But recent studies
suggest that black and other varieties of tea are just as good as green.
So, whether you drink black, white, oolong or whatever else suits your
tastes, you are still reaping the benefits that green tea has recently
gained the reputation of.
|