One of the things I am including in my book is green tea. Drinking green tea has ginormous benefits. It has become one of my new favorite power foods and that's why I'm giving you a sneak peek here. Some of the benefits of drinking green tea include:
- cancer risk reduction and inhibition of cancer cells
- reduced levels of cholesterol in the blood
- wide range of immune boosting properties
- antioxidants
- kills bacteria in the mouth reducing tooth decay
- weight loss through increased metabolism
- and much more
If you were to do research on most anything else claming to have great health benefits, you would most likely find a wealth of information about what you were looking for, but you would also likely find a wealth of information refuting the claims of the benefits of that particular food of product. Not so with green tea. Every day new studies are being released describing some new benefit of green tea but there are vitually no articles about how bad green tea is for you, because it isn't. It really is that good for you.
So what makes green tea so wonderful? Well, there are a few things. First, it is a young tea. This means that the leaves are picked and quickly packaged into the tea bags. Also, the leaves are plucked from the new sprouts at the top of the plant. On the other hand, black tea is aged and more processed and it will stain your teeth much more than green tea ever will. Secondly, green tea has much less caffeine in it than black tea. It is to your advantage to reduce frivolous caffeine intake as much as possible. Caffeine has various long term side effects which I will describe in my book (which will be finished soon). Reduce coffee consumption and increase green tea consumption. Lastly, green tea is packed full of valuable antioxidants. Antioxidants are extremely important in combating illness. They neutralize the harmful waste products that the body's cells produce and safely transport them through the blood for excretion. This also increases mood and energy.
The last thing I want to say is to NOT be lazy and get the green tea pills or the ready to drink green tea bottle or jugs in the grocery store. To get the maximum benefits, get traditional tea bags, heat some water on the stove top and steep the tea. The green tea capsules are more concentrated than you need and have added caffeine. The ready to drink green teas are STOCKED with sugar and other additives and preservatives. You could never add as much sugar to your own tea as the manufacturers of the pre-packaged kind would.
I suggest trying to get at least 1 cup of green tea per day, but shoot for 2-3. Each cup of green tea doubles as a glass of water as well. Limit the amount of sweetener you add. Celestial Seasonings has a variety of blends and one of my new favorites is their Japanese Green Raspberry Gardens. It smells delicious and tastes so good that I usually don't even need to add any sweetener! You can't beat that.
Next time you're at the store, pick up some green tea! Also, don't forget to register as a follower to this blog (to the right) and then leave your thoughts below in the comment section!
