What’s in a Cup?

The Health Benefits of Green Tea

How do you fit a miracle in a cup?

Dating back more than 4,000 years, Green tea has been long revered as a tasty drink that can ward off diseases and improve one’s well-being. And because of the astounding health benefits of green tea, it became widely popular. Why, it’s only second to water in terms of popularity!

But when did this love affair with tea start?

Legend has it that in Ancient China, the servants of Emperor Shen Nung were boiling water when some leaves of a nearby tea shrub dropped into the pot. As the leaves boiled and steeped, the fragrance was so enchanting that the Emperor asked for a cup. He drank it and apparently liked the soothing drink. That was the first recorded use of green tea.

Since then, it’s been used as treatment for everything from headaches to depression.

Today, various health benefits of green tea are constantly being reported and many scientists are now focusing their attention on the simple, yet elegantly profound beverage that is green tea.

Why Green Tea?

Like all three of the major Asian teas in the market, green tea comes from the plant called Camellia sinensis. Much of the health benefits of green tea are due to the steaming method of making it.

As opposed to black and oolong tea which undergoes full oxidization (fermentation), the leaves in green tea are only gently steamed, rolled, and dried. This allows for the preservation of the naturally occurring antioxidants in the Camellia sinensis leaves, keeping them in their original, health beneficial form.

The antioxidants in green tea helps fight away free radicals. A by-product of normal biological functions and other environmental factors (such as pollution, UV radiation), these free radicals are the major contributing factors to aging as well as the ensuing degeneration of cells as a result of it.

For decades, scientists have been studying the significant link between free radicals and diseases and have found enough reason to believe that free radicals play a pivotal role in various degenerative diseases such as arthritis, rheumatism, Alzheimer’s disease, and even cancer.

The human body has developed natural defenses against destruction and damage caused by free radicals. These substances are called antioxidants and their function is to seek out free radicals and neutralize them by undermining their volatility through the exchange of electrons. In so doing, the antioxidants become “oxidized” themselves and can no longer serve their purpose. That is why we need to constantly replenish our supply of antioxidants from our diet, in order to keep the battle with the free radicals going.

Interestingly, research studies in recent years have confirmed the presence of various healing substances in green tea that makes it a very potent therapeutic drink. Of particular importance is the apparent presence of antioxidant chemicals called polyphenols present in the ubiquitous tea.

This discovery led the scientists to surmise that the healing properties of green tea may have some basis after all – a scientific basis, no less.

A Drink Steeped With Tradition

According to Chinese traditional medicine, green tea could cure anything from headaches, body aches, and pains to constipation and depression. Over the centuries, more health claims are made on account of not just green tea, but tea in general.

Green tea is said to increase the blood flow throughout the body. Because green tea contains a little caffeine, ingesting this drink stimulates the heart and allows the blood to flow more freely through the blood vessels. For the same reason that green tea stimulates blood flow, it also stimulates mental clarity.

Green tea also contains potent chemicals that helps detoxify the body. With the presence of polyphenols, a naturally occurring antioxidant in green tea, the beverage is said to combat harmful free radicals and help keep the body free from diseases. In this regard, green tea helps maintain the overall well-being of the body. Antioxidants can boost immunity, preserve young-looking skin, and brighten the eyes.

Green tea aids in digestion and banishes fatigue. It is also said to prolong the lifespan of a human being. disease-preventing attributes of green tea and confirmed most of the health claims.

The Secret to Longevity?

That just might be.

The role of green tea in promoting longevity has been investigated upon by many researchers. They found the premise of their study on observing that Japanese women who are greater-than-average green tea drinkers have lower mortality rates compared to others. This led the researchers to believe that green tea has “a protective factor against premature death.”

The polyphenols found in Green tea may be held accountable. The antioxidant effect of polyphenols makes the drink fatal to free radicals, which are the main contributors to aging.

As our body ages, our defenses grow weaker, making us more susceptible to damage caused by free radicals. These oxygen particles bind themselves with our healthy cells, creating a chain that disrupts the normal functioning of the cells, leading to massive damage, which eventually results to the development of degenerative diseases.

By stopping the free radical chain and preventing other oxygen particles from binding with your healthy cells, polyphenols effectively delays, if not stop all together, the symptoms of these diseases.

With its high amount of polyphenols, green tea seems to have a stimulating effect on the immune system. Stronger immune system as a result of drinking green tea helps reduce risks of acquiring any illnesses.

HEALTH BENEFITS:

Fighting Cancer

There are many health benefits associated with having a green tea diet. One of these benefits is preventing cancer.

Certain substances present in green tea are said to help in destroying cancer cells without harming any neighboring tissues. This substance in green tea is called epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG, a polyphenol with antioxidant effects.

In the 1994 edition of the Journal of National Cancer Institute, the results of an epidemiological study stated that one of the health benefits of drinking green tea is that it can reduce the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by up to 60%.

The large-scale study examined whether or not people who drank as little as one cup of green tea a week for six months had a reduced risk of developing certain kinds of cancers (rectal, pancreatic, and others). The researchers found that indeed, the risk is lower in people who drank green tea than those who drank green tea less frequently or not at all.

The University of Purdue has also recently concluded a research on how a certain compound present in green tea can stop cancer cells from growing.

According to the study, the antioxidant EGCG sets in motion a process called apoptosis. This process is fatal to cells, causing cell death which leads to tissue death, and ultimately, organ failure.

“In the presence of EGCG, the cancer cells literally failed to grow or enlarge after division then presumably because they did not reach the minimum size needed to divide, they underwent programmed cell death, or apoptosis.”

Yet, interestingly enough, cell death caused by EGCG does not include the healthy cells, but only those affected with cancer.

In another study, researchers at the University of Murcia in Spain and the John Innes Center in Norwich, England have shown that EGCG in green tea prevents cancer cells from growing by binding to a specific enzyme.

“We have shown for the first time that EGCG, which is present in green tea at relatively high concentrations, inhibits the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase, which is a recognized, established target for anti-cancer drugs,” says Professor Roger Thorneley of JIC.

“This is the first time, to our knowledge, a known target for an anti-cancer drug has been identified as being inhibited by EGCG,” he added, saying further that EGCG is probably just one of a number of anti-cancer mechanisms present in green tea.

“We have identified this enzyme in tumor cells that EGCG targets and understand how it stops this enzyme from making DNA. This means we may be able to develop new anti-cancer drugs based on the structure of the EGCG molecule,” Thorneley explained.

EGCG may well enhance the body’s natural antioxidant system as well. It encourages the elimination of the damaging oxygen molecules, free radicals.

A Healthy Drink to a Healthy Heart

Study after study has shown that drinking green tea and eating polyphenol-rich foods reduce the risk of developing heart complications. Drinking green tea also helps strengthen the blood vessels that provide oxygen and valuable nutrients to the heart and brain. It has been shown that men who drink green tea have 75 percent less possibility of having a stroke than those who don’t drink green tea or drink it less frequently.

Green tea helps lower total cholesterol levels and improves the ratio between LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol. One study shows that men who drink nine or more cups of green tea daily have lower cholesterol levels than those who drink fewer than two cups.

Also another study conducted in Japan showed that among 1374 forty-year old male subjects, those who drank green tea regularly had lower Total Cholesterol, lower Low Density Lipoprotein (bad cholesterol) and higher level of High Density Lipoprotein (good cholesterol).

A larger study on 20,000 Norwegian men and women showed that Total Cholesterol level went down as the tea consumption increased. Since high cholesterol causes coronary heart disease, and tea, to a degree, blocks the absorption of dietary cholesterol, it is postulated that tea-drinkers have lower incidence of coronary heart disease.

Tea, esp ecially the green variety, has been reported to relax blood vessel walls, and thus, helps in lowering blood pressure also. The polyphenols in green tea have also been theorized to boost the immune system, giving the individuals drinking it a higher resistance to diseases in general.

A recently published letter in the Archives of Internal Medicine summarizes some of the beneficial effects of tea, particularly green tea, on the heart, cardiovascular system and other areas as well. In the publication, Dr. Tsung O. Cheng of Washington, DC states that:

Lowering Down Cholesterol

Obesity has become one of the major health issues in our society today. In fact, more than half of the American population is overweight or obese. As a result, diet and weight loss plans have become increasingly popular. But not all diet plans work. And not all of them are necessarily risk-free. A safer alternative for people wanting to lose weight are green tea diets.

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. This may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.

Green tea diets can be a potential cure to obesity. The catechin polyphenols present in green tea diets can delay the reaction of gastric and pancreatic lipases in the body. These enzymes are actually the ones responsible for converting calories in the body into fats. By delaying these enzymes, green tea diets can therefore stop fat from being stored and prevent obesity in people.

Green tea also has the ability to lower down cholesterol levels and improve the ratio between good (HDL) cholesterol and bad (LDL) cholesterol. The EGCG in green tea can stop blood from forming abnormal clots (thrombosis), a leading cause of heart attacks and strokes.

Other Health Benefits

Green tea has always been known to have several health benefits, but who knew that it could contribute to weight loss as well?

A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition show that green tea extract can increase metabolism and fat oxidation of the body. In theory, scientists believe that the weight loss benefits of green tea extracts are due to their caffeine content but the results of the study show otherwise as they discovered that green tea extracts have weight loss benefits beyond that of caffeine.

In their study, the researchers administered alone the same amount of caffeine as that in green tea extracts but found that it did not make any significant changes in the body’s overall energy expenditure. This led them to conclude that green tea extracts have ingredients in them that actively interact with each other, promoting increased metabolism and fat oxidation that lead to weight loss.

Further findings indicated that a certain compound found in green tea extracts might be the ingredient that causes weight loss. These green tea extract compounds, called Flavonoids, may alter the way the body uses norepinephrine, a hormone that monitors how calories are burned. When flavonoids interact with other green tea extract ingredients, more calories are burned thus contributing to weight loss.

Another ingredient that actively contributes to the weight loss benefits of green tea extracts is the compound catechin polyphenols. These compounds also interact with other green tea extract ingredients in order to promote weight loss by fat burning and thermogenesis (a process of losing energy by daytime heat).

The great thing about the weight loss benefit of green tea extracts is that it does not have any adverse side-effects. Unlike other herbal products like ephedra and prescription drugs for obesity, green tea extract does not increase the speed of heart rates or raise blood pressure. Not only that, but it also appears that green tea diets may act as a mild appetite-suppressant because of the presence of caffeine.

Caffeine may be harmful for the body since an excess of it can cause heart palpitations, hypertension, and insomnia. However, because green tea diets contain only very low levels of caffeine, there is no danger of experiencing these side-effects.

In this regard, green tea extract is an effective and safer alternative to other weight loss products which may cause harm to the user.

The study conducted by the University of Geneva on the weight loss benefit of green tea extract implicated that green tea extract can also help thyroid patients. According to dietitian Lynn Moss, M.S., R.D., green tea extract is a healthier choice for people with thyroid who may be too sensitive to stimulants. Green tea extract can promote weight loss by increasing metabolism without over stimulating the adrenal glands.

Green Tea and Weight Loss

Green tea is a great alternative for people who are on weight loss programs because it can help them lead a healthier lifestyle. For instance, instead of drinking coffee and cream which are high in calories, green tea weight loss programs can not only save you from taking in too much calories but also let you take in several healthful substances like polyphenols and flavonoids. 

Green tea also contains a small amount of caffeine, a key substance used in most weight loss programs because of its appetite-suppressant properties.  

Other studies show that green tea in weight loss programs can help reduce fat by inhibiting the effects of insulin. Insulin is responsible for converting glucose into energy for the body to be stored into fat. By delaying insulin, green tea weight loss programs enable sugar to be sent directly to the muscles for instant use, thus preventing fats from forming.

Green tea in weight loss programs can also promote thermogenesis, the process by which the body burns fat and releases calories. This process is brought on by the interaction of the caffeine content and catechin polyphenols present in green tea. This is why weight loss programs based on green tea is an effective way to stimulate metabolic rates.

No supplement or weight loss program is known to work miracles. However, studies do indicate that green tea have many benefits in store for those enrolled in weight loss programs.

How Much Do You Need?

So now that you know the many health benefits of green tea, how much should you drink?

There are as many answers to this question as there are researchers investigating the natural properties of green tea. Sometimes, the answers can be conflicting. For instance, in Herbs for Health, a magazine specializing on the health benefits of herbs, it was cited that according to a Japanese report, 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.

NOTE: There are approximately 240-320 mg of polyphenols in three cups of green tea.

And yet, in a study by Cleveland’s Western Reserve University, scientists 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.

Still another study, by Japanese scientists at the Saitama Cancer Research Institute, showed 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.

And then, just when you think you got it down right, it gets even more confusing. A University of California study on the cancer-preventative qualities of green tea concluded that you could probably attain the desired level of polyphenols by drinking merely two cups per day.

So how can you make sense of all these conflicting claims? The safe answer should be around four to five cups daily. If you want more, then by all means, drink more. However, whether or not you’ll derive added health benefits remains to be determined by further research.