Green Tea

Can anyone tell me the benefits of green tea? How much can you drink daily?  Wanting a coffee badly but havent had one in 2 weeks.....

To sum up, here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful:

• cancer
• rheumatoid arthritis
• high cholesterol levels
• cariovascular disease
• infection
• impaired immune function
  
  

What makes green tea so special? 

The secret of green tea lies in the fact it 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.

Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the "French Paradox." For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans. The answer was found to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet.  In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas determined that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.

Why don't other Chinese teas have similar health-giving properties? Green, oolong, and black teas all come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. What sets green tea apart is the way it is processed.  Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. By contrast, black and oolong tea leaves are made from fermented leaves, which results in the EGCG being converted into other compounds that are not nearly as effective in preventing and fighting various diseases. 

Other Benefits

New evidence is emerging that green tea can even help dieters.   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 can even help prevent tooth decay! Just as its bacteria-destroying abilities can help prevent food poisoning, it can also kill the bacteria that causes dental plaque.

Wow thanks so much for the info....looks like a great thing....but do you know how much can be drank in a day? 

The only thing I drink is green tea. I don't like carbonated beverages or fruit juice and I don't use sugar or artificial sweeteners. That leaves water and green tea. I drink about a quart to a quart and a half a day unsweetened. I've been doing that for about 2 1/2yrs with no problems.

No limit!  You can drink as much as you like.  I drink it warm in the morning and as iced tea during the day.  Then I switch to Chamomile at night since it's a natural sleep aid.

They say 3-4 cups a day. Depends how you define a cup tho, Asian restaurent cups are a lot smaller than my mugs of green tea.

heres a thing on green tea http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=food spice&dbid=146

I LOVE LOVE LOVE green tea! This article just made my day! Forwarding the link to everyone I know!

and we can count each cup of tea as a cup of the (usual) 8 glasses of Water per day, right?

What about the decaff version?  Does anyone  know which is actually healthier?  I was reading about the benefits, and it included caffiene, so I was wondering if the decaff was actually not as helpful with the health benefits? Does anyone know?

decaf scares me... i dunno what they do to get rid of the caffeine but it doesnt seem healthy to me heh. i could be wrong though...maybe its not bad?

i work at a cafe and i tend to drink too much espresso but iv been drinking water more to try to make up for the hydration. we have green tea ..regular and tropical. i try to drink at least a large cup a day as well.....id like to try more.

Wow this is a very good topic!

I never drank green tea befor, but i think i'll try!

Does it come in a light green glass bottle? I think i've seen that befor...

i bought salada green tea decaff yesterday. in the FAQ of their site greentea.com they talk about this. i bought the green tea decaff with added purple antioxidents. you just need to make sure they don't decaff by ethyl acetate.

(am i allowed to paste from another site?)

Does Green Tea contain caffeine?
Yes, unless it?s decaffeinated. An average cup of green tea contains approximately 30 mg of caffeine. This compares to a cup of black tea, which has about 40 mg, and a cup of brewed coffee, which has 120 mg of caffeine.

Does the decaffeination process affect the health benefits of Green Tea?
The effect of the decaffeination process on the health benefits of green tea depends on the decaffeination process. Salada?s decaffeination process preserves the antioxidants found in green tea by using only spring water and effervescence (CO2 method) to take the caffeine out.

How many cups of Green Tea should be consumed per day in order to gain the maximum health benefits?
Most of the research has indicated that drinking 4 or more cups per day will yield the maximum health benefits.


I also found a great list of benefits at this link
http://www.teamuse.com/article_030501.html

To get full benefits out of green tea, its always best to drink loose leave rather than bags. Loose leaves expand more (which give more space for nutrients to get in the water ) and are usually of higher quality ( also better tasting ). The only problem is its a lil' harder to use than tea bags, you have to use a tea pot or a speacial cup to remove the leaves.  The tea can't steep for longer then 3 minutes, the tea starts to be realy bitter or sour. Also, you cant use boiling water, the water got to be a lil' cooler, to get a better taste.

Since I started drinking loose leaf tea, I can't imagine drinking "teaBag" tea again. Yes its less practical, but the taste is worth the fuss.