You'll Start Drinking Green Tea After Reading This!

Research on the benefits of green tea and cancer prevention is still in the early stages, but the results are promising. Researchers suspect that the polyphenols in green tea help to destroy cancer cells and stop their progression, a very important role in the prevention of various cancers.

In a study of 472 women suffering from breast cancer, those who drank the most green tea experienced the least spread of the disease. Researchers also found that women in the early stages of breast cancer who drank at least five cups of green tea per day during their diagnoses were less likely to have the disease recur after their treatment was completed.

One Chinese study found that men who drank more than three cups of green tea per day reduced their risk of prostate cancer by 70%. In another study funded by the National Institute of Health, 79 men with prostate cancer were told to either drink six cups of green tea a day or six cups of water. After 3-8 weeks, the levels of prostate-specific antigen, a protein that may indicate cancer, were lower in the men who drank green tea than those who drank water.

2. Makes Your Heart Healthier

Green tea contains a significant amount of antioxidants and flavonoids that help protect against heart disease by slowing the breakdown of LDL cholesterol, improving blood vessel function, and preventing blood clots.

The benefits of green tea also include lower rates of artery blockages. For example, those who drink a cup or two a day have a 46% lower chance of developing narrowed arteries. Increasing that to three cups a day lowers the risk of having a heart attack by 43% and dying from a heart attack by 70%.

Green tea can even help prevent a second heart attack. In a study of 1,900 patients recovering from heart attacks at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, the death rate among patients who drank at least two cups of green tea per day was 44% lower than among non-tea drinkers.

To decrease your aches and pains, try sipping four cups of green tea per day. Green tea contains quercetin, a chemical compound that acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.

In a recent study conducted at Case Western Reserve University, researchers gave mice the equivalent of four cups of green tea a day, then gave them a substance that would normally produce rheumatoid arthritis. The tea-drinking mice were far less likely to develop arthritis than mice that drank only water.

According to the Iowa Women’s Health Study, women who drink more than three cups of tea a day are 60% less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than those who don’t drink green tea.

4. Boosts Your Brain

Researchers from the Netherlands confirmed in a recent study that two green tea compounds, L-theanine and caffeine, can significantly increase levels of alertness and attention, building on what is already known about the brain benefits of green tea.

This drink is less likely to make you jittery and anxious when compared to other energy-boosting drinks because it contains lower levels of caffeine.

In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers discovered that drinking just one cup of green tea per day made people over the age of 55, 38% less likely to experience a decline in cognitive abilities.

Drinking just two or three cups of green tea each day can help clear up a urinary tract infection. Green tea contains antioxidants that one study found can help reduce bladder inflammation. Other studies have shown that those who drink green tea regularly have a 40% lower incidence of UTIs than those who don’t drink green tea.

6. Relieves Allergies

Another benefit of green tea is that it is rich in flavonoids (plant chemicals that help protect against inflammation). Therefore, if you’re struggling with allergies, you should try drinking a couple of cups of green tea per day to see if the sinus inflammation decreases.

Quercetin, an antioxidant found in green tea, has been shown to inhibit the release of inflammatory substances from masts cells, which are involved in allergic responses. This is exactly how asthma medication works, so try drinking a couple of cups of green tea each day in order to keep your asthma symptoms at bay.

8. Cuts Down on Stress

Since green tea has lower levels of caffeine than most other teas, you might be able to drink the five cups per day that lowered psychological stress in a large group of Japanese people in a recent study that was carried out at Sendai’s Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine.

The researchers couldn’t identify any particular component of green tea that might be soothing, but animal studies suggest that one compound, EGCC, has both sedative and hypnotic effects that turn down the body’s production of stress chemicals.