Green Tea – Health

I have read about many different health benefits coming from green tea. I’m not talking about the “voodoo” benefits that shamans tell you about to get you to buy their “sacred herbs,” but true benefits that can better your life.

According to I. Oguni and Y. Hara, in “Green tea has many medicinal activities for preventing disease such as cancer, cardio-vascular diseases and diabetes“, (published by The Chunichi-shinbun, Nagoya, Japan), p. 1-239 (1990)), the following components of green tea has the corresponding healthy effects:

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Catechins (main component) has the following health effects:

• Reduces the incidence of cancers and tumors
• Reduces cell mutations
• Reduces oxidation of blood cells
• Lowers blood cholesterol
  
• Inhibits the increase of blood pressure and blood sugar
• Fights cariogenic bacteria

Caffeine in the tea has the following health benefits:

• Promotes wakefulness
• Acts as a diuretic

Vitamin C in the tea has the following health benefits:

• Reduces stress
• Boosts immune system

Vitamin B Complex promotes the follow benefit:

• Aids carbohydrate metabolism

Gamma-Amino Butyric Acid (GABA) promotes the following benefit:

• Lowers blood pressure

Flavonoids promotes the following benefit:

• Strengthen the blood vessel walls

Polysaccharides in the tea lowers blood sugar level.

Flouride in the tea prevents cavities.

Vitamin E in the tea acts as an anti-oxidant.

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So not only does tea taste good, but it has a bus-load of health benefits. Therefore, of course I’m going to recommend green tea to anyone who hasn’t tried it. Try starting off with some Japanese green tea, particularly some sencha first!

Go to my page on brewing sencha to learn how to.