This article will investigate just a few of these claims with regard to some of the most important illnesses around these days. One is Cancer and interestingly enough I recently caught a news report in the paper with the headlines ’3 cups of tea a day keeps cancer at bay’. That’s quite a claim and there is a lot of ongoing research.

What many studies have concluded though is that green tea antioxidants are very good at acting in a protective and preventative way. But, there’s also evidence that suggests that even with people who are already suffering from the disease there’s certain benefits from taking green tea capsules or as a drink.

One other claimed benefit is to do with obesity and weight loss which is dear to a lot of us out there. Again, it’s these potent green tea antioxidants which seem to get the thumbs up from numerous studies. It boils down to them being able to burn up those calories at a faster rate than we normally do. It’s use is seen more in the way of a dietary supplement and not as a stand alone method of dieting as such. In addition, there is also a bonus effect of it suppressing hunger and cravings which are also important issues.

Protecting our health and preventing diseases are noble pursuits and who knows, with the help of something so natural as green tea oxidants we are surely doing our bodies a big favor whenever we drink it.

Whilst the experts argue amongst themselves about the causes of such a life-threatening disease, we receive daily health advice from many sources  about what we can do to protect ourselves in some small way.

Lifestyle choices I believe have a part to play, some of it quite simple, straightforward and obvious, for example the often quoted advice of not smoking and eating sensibly and healthily. Within that category we should also include what we drink and if you’re a tea drinker you may or may not be aware of some of the health benefits of drinking tea, especially green tea.

This article will take a quick look at some of these supposed benefits and their origins. For example, many scientific studies from all corners of the world have mentioned tea’s antioxidant properties. Without going into long-winded explanations, these antioxidants help our bodies fight and repair the damage caused by otherwise normal bodily functions that happen on a molecular level within us all. 

Well, I for one have been a tea drinker for a long time and like a nice, strong cup of tea with milk and happy to drink several cups a day. So I was a bit perplexed to hear that green tea is a better bet. One has to delve a little deeper to understand the different teas that are available and their individual qualities, and how the tea is grown, treated and prepare also plays a part. One particular antioxidant ingredient that’s found in higher levels in green tea is catechins. There have been some findings that show this ingredient affecting the growth and development of cancer cells.

One other interesting fact I also uncovered is that there are good, quality nutritional supplements that contain green tea within their ingredients list, so there’s no need to buy loose tea or tea bags in order to get the health benefits. The research and debate around green tea and cancer will roll-on for some time yet as it’s such a complex subject. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long.

Even the smallest steps taken can have a huge impact. Many steps can actually save money and increase revenue for businesses, making it a key tool for small businesses. Also, this increases the number of businesses finding ways to go green, offering more green solutions to consumers.

From offering direct deposit to save on gas for bank trips and printed paychecks, to using green products around the workplace, to using green printers, it has become so easy and even cost efficient for small businesses to go green. It even attracts more clients. Green businesses have become a huge circle of increased revenue. Demand calls for some green changes, printers offer soy based inks printed on recycled products, small businesses such as design company EveryRose utilize the printer for all projects, client demand is met, and the cycle goes on, raising revenue for everyone.

Often, going green can help save money as well. Green printers, such as Smart Levels Media, can be found for cheaper than non green competitors, not only saving your business valuable money but also attracting the sort of clients that will inevitably take an interest in the fact that you are trendy and green.

Top of a very long list are those who are on a weight loss program of some kind or looking to control their weight. It seems that there are some  very potent antioxidants within green tea that wok extremely well at stimulating our own bodies metabolism into burning up calories at a much faster rate than we would normally. One study in particular had taken all the other variables into consideration like making sure the participants  ate the same diet and so on. The results showed that those who had drunk the green tea consistently over a period of almost three months showed a reduction in their body fat. 

In addition to this, others claim it reduces food cravings and increases your energy levels.

More benefits of green tea have been assigned to sufferers of diabetes which is a big, growing problem amongst the developed nations and some say, is linked to the point mentioned above, that of obesity. Here is where these green tea antioxidants play their part again as evidence has shown that they have a stabilizing effect on blood sugar levels.

Loosely touching upon the very big subject of cancer, it has shown to have  a big protective and preventative influence on the disease, but much of this research is still ongoing. Even acne sufferers have seen improvements when green tea extract is used as an externally applied form.

Let’s not ignore the fact that it’s a natural plant so lessening the chances of any potential side effects. Plus for those of us looking to get the edge where ever we can on staying healthy, the benefits of green tea should not remain ignored.

Green tea consists of most powerful antioxidants and green tea is also not fermented. Green tea enhances the body’s antioxidant enzymes including glutathione that is very helpful in treating arthritis. Green tea can reduce inflammation and cartilage breakdown which will be done only with the help of Glutathione. By taking green tea regularly can protect against many diseases that are caused by free radical damage and also to diabetes.

Green tea also has a significant effect to diabetes as they can low blood pressure and sugar level in body. Green tea are ease to find and inexpensive way to preventing us from diabetes. Green tea has assist to break down of blood glucose. Research suggested that green tea may in fact help to prevent the development of diabetes while also helping to regulate blood sugar levels in those who already have diabetes. Diabetics do not produce insulin which breaks down glucose in the blood, but the use of green tea may help in regulating these blood sugar levels and so be beneficial for diabetics.

Insulin, close relate to diabetes, is made in response to the level of glucose or sugar in the bloodstream. Insulin serves two purposes: it lowers blood sugar levels and increases the availability of sugar for normal cell functioning. Either the pancreas secretes little or no insulin in response to the rise in blood sugar after a meal or the pancreas secretes a normal amount of insulin but the cells do not respond to the hormone. In either case, the result is that blood sugar levels remain high; sugar spills into the urine, and many complications, such as diabetes, can develop in the body from the abnormal blood sugar levels.

Long-term damage can be severe, including such devastating effects as gangrene (especially the feet), ulcers, kidney failure, blindness and diabetes. Diabetes is also a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke because it makes the blood vessels less elastic and more likely to become clogged with plaque.

One study found that feeding green tea to rats reduced both blood glucose and insulin levels, and those catechins were very effective starches and sucrose blockers in the digestive tracts of rats.

Similar results were observed in humans. When 300 mg (about 3 cups) of green tea were given to subjects ten minutes before taking in 50 grams of starches, their glucose and insulin levels did not rise nearly as much as was expected. Besides, because of green tea’s starch-blocking effect, it may also help get rid of excess fat, the villain that can cause diabetes or make it much worse.

Green tea is possibly the closest one can get to a miracle drink with its health benefits for a large range of variety diseases as well as for diabetes. Try some green tae for your health.

How Is Green Tea Good For You?

• Tea is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.

• Green tea may be good for your waistline. In November 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.

Green Tea Is Good For Your Immune System

• A Japanese report found that men who drank ten cups of green tea per day stayed cancer-free for three years longer than men who drank less than three cups a day (there are approximately 240 – 320 mg of polyphenols in three cups of green tea). Meanwhile, a study by Cleveland’s Western Reserve University concluded that drinking four or more cups of green tea per day could help prevent rheumatoid arthritis, or reduce symptoms in individuals already suffering from the disease.

• Scientists at the Saitama Cancer Research Institute discovered that there were fewer recurrences of breast cancer, and the disease spread less quickly, in women with a history of drinking five cups or more of green tea daily.

Green Tea Is Good For Your Prevention & Treatment Of Cancer

• Scientists also discovered that EGCG from green tea can help to prevent metastasis, or the movement and spreading of cancer cells from one organ or tissue to the other by bloodstream or lymph. Cancer cells secrete special enzymes in order to enter and colonize tissues. Research shows that EGCG stops the secretion of these special enzymes.

• A case study that was done in China, reports that those women who drank green tea regularly had a 50% lower risk of developing esophageal cancer. Men showed less risk as well, but not as significant as women.

• Researchers from Sweden reported that green tea blocked the development of new blood vessels in the lungs. By blocking the development of new blood vessels in the lungs, tumors are less likely to grow and metastasize. Scientists believe that EGCG plays a significant rule in blocking the development of tumors. Similar results were achieved in breast cancer, colon cancer and melanoma studies. It is believed that drinking green tea for an extended period of time will help to prevent and might cure cancer naturally.

• The antioxidants found in green tea–called catechins–may selectively inhibit the growth of cancer. In laboratory studies using animals, catechins scavenged oxidants before cell damage occurred, reduced the number and size of tumors, and inhibited the growth of cancer cells. National Cancer Institute researchers are investigating the therapeutic and preventive use of tea catechins against a variety of cancers.

• One Chinese study involving over 18,000 men found green tea drinkers were about half as likely to develop stomach or esophageal cancer as men who drank little tea, even after adjusting for smoking and other health and diet factors.

• In the laboratory, studies have shown green tea catechins act as powerful inhibitors of cancer growth in several ways: They scavenge oxidants before cell injuries occur, reduce the incidence and size of chemically induced tumors, and inhibit the growth of tumor cells. In studies of liver, skin and stomach cancer, chemically induced tumors were shown to decrease in size in mice that were fed green and black tea.

Green Tea Is Good For Your Teeth

• Green tea is good for your teeth, the catechins prevent decay by killing the bacteria (Streptococcus mutans) that cause dental plaque. Green tea also contains fluoride. One cup of brewed green tea contains around 0.3-0.5 mg of fluoride. This is an optimal level of fluoride according to dentists. As we all know, fluoride builds in our teeth’s enamel, making it more resistant against acidic environment, of our mouth. Green tea also eliminates other bacteria that responsible for bad breath. According to researchers, green tea polyphenols can inhibit, by 30%, the growth of bacteria that causes unpleasant breath.

• A study at the Beijing Dental Hospital found consuming 3 grams of green tea a day, or about 2 cups, along with the application of a tea extract reduced the size and proliferation of leukoplakia, a precancerous oral plaque.

• Recent research suggests that green tea is good for your HDL cholesterol ( the “good one”) and lowers triglyceride levels. Several tests have been done. And green tea extract has been shown to be good for your cholesterol.

Green Tea Is Good For Your Blood Pressure

• At the the end of a 5 week experiment, one group with the regular diet showed blood pressure increases. For the catechin fed group, the blood pressure stayed normal. After this initial testing the scientists switched the diets for the two groups. This switch led to a reversal of the blood pressure trends. The study concluded that drinking moderate amounts of green tea each day can help to prevent high blood pressure.

The catechins in green tea have additionally been shown to help prevent excess cholesterol in the blood, killing the bacteria that causes food poisoning, lower blood sugar, additionally green tea is good for your high blood pressure by suppressing the production of angiotensn II. Catechin is also a strong anti-oxidant, which aids in aging related concerns.

Green and white tea leaves are less processed than oolong or black teas, which prevents oxidation and retains the highest levels of beneficial compounds. But all tea is good for you, so find the ones you like and drink them daily!

1. One benefit of green tea is that it lowers your bad cholesterol and increases the good ones. This is the reason why a lot of tea drinkers can still enjoy eating almost twice the food that contains cholesterol as non-tea drinkers and yet still have equal cholesterol count.

2. Another benefit of green tea is that it is one of nature’s most potent antioxidants. The all-natural green tea extract contains catechins that have been shown to ward off viruses. It has also been proven that catechins destroy free radicals that damage the body’s cells and leaves the body prone to cancer, heart diseases and other degenerative diseases.

3. Another benefit of green tea is its capability to boost the body’s immune system. Green tea has high concentrations of polyphenols and flavenoids that make the body resistant to certain diseases.

4. Dieters also stand to gain from drinking green tea. Research revealed that men who were given a combination of green tea extract and caffeine were able to burn a greater number of calories compared to those who were given caffeine or a placebo only.

5. Another benefit of green tea is that it stimulates metabolism and quickens the process of burning calories. This is why green tea is often touted as a vital part of a healthy diet.

6. Green tea is also known to reduce high blood pressure. By inhibiting angiotensin II, green tea prevents constriction of blood vessels that lead to high blood pressure.

7. One other health benefit of green tea is its ability to fight cancer. A study has found that an anti-oxidant known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) found in green tea represses the growth of cancer cells and destroys some existing cancer cells without damaging healthy cells. There is evidence that a daily diet that includes green tea helps in the reduction of esophageal, stomach, bladder, colon, pancreas and rectum cancer by up to 60 percent. EGCG has been shown to be at least 100 times more effective compared to vitamin C and 25 times more efficient than vitamin E in protecting cells from harmful factors.

8. The antioxidant EGCG in green tea is also reported to prevent the formation of blood clots. This is one benefit of green tea that helps prevent thrombosis, the main cause of heart attacks and stroke.

9. The ability to lower blood sugar is another benefit of green tea. Polyphenols and polysaccharides, the two main antioxidants found in green tea, are effective in reducing the levels of blood sugar in the body, helping to prevent and relieve type-two diabetes.

10. One other benefit of green tea is the promotion of oral health. Green tea has components that help prevent tooth decay and bad breath. Green tea also suppresses the process of plaque formation by destroying bacteria that cause it.

Several studies were done over the last few years to find out the component in green tea that makes it a powerful health drink. Researchers have discovered that the beneficial effects of green tea are attributed to the polyphenols, particularly the catechins, which make up 30 percent of the dry weight of green tea leaves.

Recent studies have shown that catechins are instrumental in one significant green tea extract benefit – weight loss promotion. Catechins in green tea extract affect metabolism in a number of ways: suppressing appetite, inhibiting intestinal lipases, decreasing fat absorption, increasing fat excretion, increasing uncoupling proteins, accelerating thermogenesis, and decreasing lipogenic enzymes. Due to its potential therapeutic advantages and its role in the promotion of weight loss, green tea extract has now become the subject of global studies.

Numerous studies suggest that one green tea extract benefit is its ability to increase metabolism and help burn fat more effectively. A study made a confirmation that when green tea and caffeine are combined, there is significant improvement in the efforts of a moderately obese individual who is trying to lose weight and maintain it. Several researchers believe that catechins are the main causes of the fat-burning effect of the herb.

According to one researcher, there are only a couple of ways to attain weight loss – reduce energy intake or increase energy expenditure. Apparently, the compounds found in green tea are capable of giving a boost to the body’s normal metabolism rate, thereby providing a green tea extract benefit, particularly the weight loss advantage.

Other studies also say that an important body process involving losing weight is enhanced with the help of green tea. Because of the caffeine in green tea and green tea itself, the process of thermogenesis, which is also referred to as increased caloric expenditure, is said to increase by 28 percent to 77 percent, depending on dose. Caffeine alone did not yield significant results. One study has shown that the thermogenic effect caused by green tea extract may be a result of an interaction between its high concentrations of catechin-polyphenols together with caffeine.

A study on bladder cancer cell lines also outlined one more green tea extract benefit, which involves the anti-cancer properties of green tea. The study revealed that green tea extract shows promise in beating cancer. For the first time, the study was able to determine that green tea indeed targets cancer cells and leaves the healthy, normal cells alone. It has been shown in the study that the green tea extract benefit of destroying cancer cells inhibited the growth of an independent blood supply, which cancers develop so they can grow and spread. In the study, it was observed that green tea extract breaks up a process that’s important in permitting bladder cancer to invade and spread to different parts of the body.

Studies involving animal tests have shown that green tea reduces the formation of tumors for cancers of the skin, esophagus, bladder, pancreas, ovary cancer and prostate. The antioxidant activity in green tea has

been reported to produce such results. Researchers are also of the belief that polyphenols are essential in destroying cancerous cells and stopping their progression.

Skin Cancer

Scientific research suggests that the main polyphenol in green tea, which is called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and other green tea polyphenols possess anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. One study

has been done on the health benefit of green tea on the skin. The study showed that drinking tea helps prevent the onset and growth of skin tumors.

Esophageal Cancer

Animal studies have also been conducted and they showed that green tea polyphenols help stop the growth of esophageal cancer cells. However, studies done on people have various results regarding the health

benefit of green tea. One study showed that green tea consumption is an effective way to be protected from esophageal cancer, specifically among women. But another study showed that drinking green tea increased

the risk of developing esophageal cancer. This shows that before green tea can be recommended for esophageal cancer prevention, more research has to be done.

Bladder Cancer

A few studies have been conducted on the health benefit of green tea on the human bladder. Research has been done to determine if there’s a connection between bladder cancer and consumption of green tea. One

study revealed that women who drank green tea reduced their probability of developing bladder cancer. The study was followed with another one revealing that patients with bladder cancer, specifically men, who

consumed green tea had a significantly improved chance of surviving compared to those who did not drink tea.

Pancreatic Cancer

Research has also been done on the health benefit of green tea on the pancreas. A study found that men and women who drank green tea had lesser chances of developing cancer in the pancreas. However, the study

didn’t particularly point out that green tea was exclusively responsible for reducing the risk of pancreatic cancer. Researchers still need further studies before they can start recommending green tea for pancreatic

cancer prevention.

Ovarian Cancer

In China, a study was conducted on patients with ovarian cancer. It was observed that women who drank a cup of green tea a day were able to survive longer and lived the longest compared to women who did not drink

tea at all.

Prostate Cancer

Green tea extracts have been shown in laboratory studies to prevent the development of prostate cancer cells in test tubes. A large study showed that people who drank green tea with increasing frequency, quantity

and duration reduced their risk of developing prostate cancer.