Green Tea and its Health Benefits

I have admittedly never been much of a tea drinker. I have tried a wide variety of teas, and never quite connected with it. However, I think that my love affair with coffee got in the way, and I recently kicked a 20 year long addiction to Diet Coke. However, in my effort to improve my health, and cut back further on caffeine, I have been dabbling a bit in trying different green teas. After all, I have to be able to drink something a bit more interesting than...water!!! And, honestly, I am pleasantly surprised!



Why Green Tea? Well, according to Wikipedia, "over the last few decades green tea has been subjected to many scientific and medical studies to determine the extent of its long-purported health benefits, with some evidence suggesting regular green tea drinkers may have lower chances of heart disease and developing certain types of cancer. The tea has also been useful for weight loss management."



Sounds like the perfect beverage for someone looking to improve their health, focus on heart health and potentially lose weight or manage their weight. Sounds like the perfect beverage for me!



Furthermore, according again to Wikipedia, there are many more extensive claims, not proven, but interesting to note:

* Stopping certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
* Treatment of cancer
* Treating multiple sclerosis
* Preventing the degradation of cell membranes by neutralizing the spread of free radicals which occur during oxidation process.
* Reducing the negative effects of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) by lowering levels of triglycerides and increasing the production of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol).
* An increase in levels of the metabolism speeding brain chemical norepinephrine (noradrenaline).
* Japanese researchers claim that drinking five cups of green tea a day can burn 70 to 80 extra calories. Dr. Nicholas Perricone, a self-proclaimed anti-aging specialist, appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and told Oprah's viewers they can lose 10 lbs (4.5 kg) in 6 weeks drinking green tea instead of coffee.
* Some green tea lovers commonly restrict their intake because of the stimulants it contains — equivalent to about a third the amount of caffeine as is found in coffee.



I highly recommend trying the teas from Adagio, their green tea sampler is fantastic! I find that I can enjoy these teas hot or cold. In fact, I prefer their "Citron Green" that has a nice, crisp lemon/lime taste poured over ice. I recently took a water bottled filled with icy cold Citron Green tea and it was incredibly refreshing! Click on any of the images in this blog post to experience the wonders of green tea for yourself!