In an age where everyone is more self conscious about their health, supplements and super foods have become ever so popular. One of these foods is green tea, green tea is cheap and beneficial in nearly every single aspect. It’s first use as a beverage of any kind, medicinal or regular, is dated back to 4 000 years in Ancient China. Around the same time the herb was also used in other parts of Asia such as Japan, Thailand and Vietnam. At first it was used for medicinal purposes such as helping with constipation, helping some wounds heal and a few other small medical issues. But soon the tea was drank by pretty much anyone because of it’s naturally great taste and all round benefits. We can go on and on about green tea’s benefits and uses but here are some interesting facts about it.
- There has been lots of researches by the FDA(Food and Drugs Administration) about Green tea and tea in general’s effect on cancer prevention. Though most results prove inconclusive, a small amount of the limited studies point towards generally a good effect of green tea on cancer. The research suggests it will lower the risk of some types of cancer.
- This one date backs to Ancient China, green tea will lower your blood pressure if it’s high but this will only work if consumption is regular, regular in this case means at the very least daily for 30 days. There is also a new research by the Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics that green tea that despite being good for high blood pressure patients it may interfere with their medicine. Taking the blood pressure medicine with green tea is not advised.
- A lot of people take green tea bags from the grocery store but the fact is that it contains a lot less antioxidants than buying a herb variety and brewing it yourself. A commercial green tea bag will have 3 milligrams of antioxidants while the herbs will have 150 milligrams, the difference is huge.
- A lab research on animals showed that green tea slows down the effects of Alzheimer and Parkinson’s. Both disease will result in brain cells dead but green tea chemicals help stop the destruction and even in some case renew brain cells.
- The anti oxidant and anti inflammatory chemicals in green tea also help with skin issues such as wrinkles, acne and it can also be used topically to heal sunburns.
Those are some facts about green tea, the internet would suggest green tea cures everything but a lot of it is false and the research inconclusive. Researching green is hard because of the amount of variables. The herb itself can be from a different genus, the brewing method, the bioavaibility of the chemicals(not all leafs have the same amount of compound) and therefore be careful about what you read about green tea as great as it is it doesn’t cure everything.