Research has shown that things beneficial for the heart are usually good for the brain, as our brain needs active and healthy blood vessels for working in good condition.
A Swiss conducted MRIs that revealed that the brains of people who use Green tea showed greater working memory activity levels.
Green tea is one of the healthiest beverages due to its lower caffeine content.
Green tea is considered a very powerful antioxidant that helps attain a healthy body by reducing your cholesterol level, healthy skin, and hair.
While it also possesses benefits in blocking the growth of cancerous cells and plaques formation that are linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
In addition, it plays a significant role in controlling diabetes risk. All these green tea benefits have been discussed in the article.
What is Green tea?
Green tea leaves are immediately heated after harvesting from the Camellia sinensis plant, and then it is cooled for rolling. After rolling, the leaves are dried (110°C/70°C).
Tea leaves are again rolled and dried finally (120°C/80°C). Throughout the processing, the heat helps in halting the oxidation before and after rolling, which result in the light colour and grassy flavour of the leaf.
Types of Green Tea:
There are several different types and tastes of green tea though all these have the same originated plant.
The varied taste and types of green tea depend on several factors such as the cultivation practices employed by the tea growers like when, where and how its leaves are plucked or are there some chemicals applied for growth, the extent and method of heating and drying applied to stop oxidation, shape of tea leaves, the “terroir” or environment where the tea leaves are grown in, the neighboring crops, etc.
The most widely consumed types of green tea hail from China and Japan, while green teas from both places are different in flavor profiles based on the place of growth and processing methods.
Other green tea producing countries adopt either of these processing styles of China or Japan.
Green Tea forms:
Green tea is commonly available in the form of teabags, in instant powder, loose-leaf and bottles with some artificial flavor such as lemongrass.
At the same time, the supplements of green tea are sold in the form of liquid extracts and capsules.
Best Green Tea Benefits:
“It’s the healthiest thing I can think of to drink,” says Christopher Ochsner, a research scientist in nutrition at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Owing to the presence of Catechins and antioxidants such as polyphenols, green tea is proved to be highly beneficial and effective as compared to black tea. Here are given some of the excellent green tea benefits.
1. Weight Loss
Green tea is ten times more effective in reducing body fats because it contains 10 times more antioxidants as compared to fruits and vegetables.
Obesity is really a bothersome issue for many people due to bad eating habits, sedentary lifestyles, hormonal problems, genetic, etc. Still, the six different catechins and antioxidants agents in Green tea increase our body’s metabolic rate and thus result in weight loss.
2. Skin Health
Antioxidants are beneficial in maintaining beautiful skin.
Green tea is rich in antioxidants that help achieve glowing skin, avoid the sun’s damaging effect, wrinkles. It is included among the popular anti-ageing agents.
It contains high levels of Oligomeric proanthocyanidin, one of the most potent antioxidants found in nature that keeps skin fresh and young for a long time.
3. Treatment of Halitosis
Green tea help to rescue lousy breath or halitosis, as it can inhibit the growth of viruses and bacteria that cause bad breath and dental diseases.
A paste of green tea leaves or toothpaste containing a teaspoon of baking soda and a high concentration of green tea liquid.
This will help reduce gum inflammation and prevent plaque growth on your teeth.
4. Keeps Allergies At Bay
Green tea boosts the immune system as Epigallocatechin gallate EGCG found in green tea blocks key cell receptors that produce histamine and immunoglobulin E (IgE); these compounds are involved in producing an allergic response, and thus, helps in fighting your body from against the allergens like pollens, dust and antigens amongst others.
5. Diabetes prevention:
Green tea inhibits the secretion of an enzyme named alpha-glucosidase that slows down the glucose absorption in the bloodstream, thus requiring less insulin to manage and monitor glucose levels in the blood and helps control Type II diabetes. Green tea also helps in tolerating the occurrence of diabetes in healthy individuals.
6. Blood Pressure control
As green tea helps to control diabetes and cholesterol level, the high percentage of caffeine is harmful to hypertension; therefore green tea helps in the management of high blood pressure. It is also known to suppress the angiotensin 1-converting enzyme in people with high blood pressure.
7. Strong Hair
The large amount of DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) hinders hair growth and cause hair fall. Green tea manages the amount of testosterone in the blood by reacting with it and inhibits DHT formation from the reaction of 5- alpha-reductase and testosterone.
It helps cure common hair problems such as dandruff, stimulates hair growth, and softens the hair because it contains antioxidants, polyphenols, Vitamin E, and Vitamin C, which boost lustrous hair.
8. Controlling cardiovascular diseases
Green tea benefits include the prevention of Platelet Aggregation, which is considered a primary factor in cardiovascular diseases.
The antioxidant flavonoids in green tea inhibit platelet aggregation. Thus the intake of green tea is beneficial for patients affected by coronary heart disease and reduces the mortality rate due to heart diseases in both men and women.
9. Preventing cancer
The excellent source of antioxidant green tea prevents the risk of cancerous cells in our body.
Studies have shown that green tea is high effective in controlling the risk factors associated with the occurrence of breast cancer (the most common cancer in women), prostate cancer and esophageal cancer because it is thought to kill the cancerous cells without damaging the healthy tissues.
10. Prevents Arthritis
Green tea efficiently reduces the risk of rheumatoid arthritis and protects the cartilage by blocking the production of the enzyme chemokine.
This enzyme promotes the inflammation around the cartilage that ruins its flexibility, in turn, its ability to function normally.
11. Prevention of Neurological Diseases
The primary antioxidant Polyphenols in green tea help the brain work actively and maintain the parts of the brain that regulate learning and memory.
It inhibits the process of reducing brain acetylcholine levels and prevents cell damage in the brain. Therefore regular intake of green tea reduces the risk of neurological disorders like epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
12. Cures Common Stomach Ailments
Green tea is considered an excellent antiseptic because of its bacteria-destroying abilities, and it helps avoid common stomach problems like infection, food poisoning, etc. Still, the excessive consumption of green tea can be harmful to the stomach.
13. Healthy liver
The antioxidants present in green tea help keep your liver healthy and reduce the risk of an individual getting a fatty liver. Green tea reduces the pressure on the liver by increasing the metabolic rate.
14. Relaxation in Asthma
In addition to antioxidants and vitamins, green tea contains theophylline that helps in muscle relaxation and support the bronchial tissues, thus helping manage asthma severity.
15. Reduces Stress and Depression
Green tea is considered excellent for the brain. In addition to antioxidants, theanine is an amino acid that helps relieve stress and anxiety. Theanine is also considered outstanding as an anti-depressant. Thus green tea is known to provide a relaxing and tranquillizing effect.
16. Increases Immunity
Antioxidants and flavonoids in green tea help the immune system fight against infections. The large amounts of vitamin c boost the immunity against cold, flu, fever and other allergies.
17. Strong and healthy Nails
You can get rid of the yellowness of nails by using green tea. You are just required to soak your nails in it once a week, and you will find your nails become strong and shiny after a few weeks. Similarly, green tea essential oils as cuticle oil are equally helpful for your brittle nails.
18. Prevention of Osteoporosis
After menopause, women face the issue of Low bone density commonly; thus, the risk of getting Osteoporosis increases because of the weakness of bones. The large fluoride concentration in green tea helps keep your bones strong and inhibits their breakdown, thus minimizing the chance of developing bone problems like osteoporosis.
19. Genital Warts
Green tea extracts such as sinecatechin have been proved effective in treating genital and perianal warts.
The above listed benefits show the effectiveness of green tea for both healthy and feeble individuals. But it should be kept in mind that it is healthy and beneficial only when it is consumed in moderation, as its excessive consumption can be harmful.
