Green Tea and Weight Loss

There is no other drink that has as many health benefits as green tea. Chinese since the ancient times have known the medicinal benefits of the drink and use it for treating all ailments ranging from depression to headache.

Scientific research done in the west and Asia has provided clear evidence about the benefits associated with the intake of green tea. The Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 1994 brought out the outcomes of an epidemiological study demonstrating that consuming green tea reduces the chances of esophageal cancer in women and men of China by about sixty percent. Researchers of the University of Purdue completed that a component is present in green tea which inhibits the development of cancerous cells. Research has also concluded that green tea helps in lowering the total cholesterol levels of a person and improves the ratio between good cholesterol and bad cholesterol.

In summation, a small number of medical conditions in which green tea has been proven to be beneficial are:

1. Rheumatoid arthritis
2. Cardiovascular disease
3. Cancer
4. Impaired immune function
5. Infection
6. High cholesterol levels

So you see the wide variety of benefits that you can get from drinking green tea. The component of green tea that makes it special is catechin polyphenols, especially epigallocatechin gallate (ECGC). ECGC is very powerful as an anti-oxidant and it not only inhibits the development of cancer cells, it also destroys cancer cells without causing any harm to healthy tissues.

Recent evidence has also shown that green tea helps dieters. Researchers of American Journal of Clinical nutrition in 1999 concluded that some men who consumed a combination of green tea extract and caffeine were able to burn more amounts of calories as compared to men who consumed only caffeine or a placebo.

Green tea has also been beneficial in tooth decay. It has the ability to destroy bacteria and helps to prevent food poisoning. It also helps in killing bacteria that result in dental plaque. Skin preparations consisting of green tea from creams and deodorants are beginning to appear in the market.

Till date, researches and studies have been conducted which prove that the only harmful side effect from green tea is insomnia. This is because it consists of caffeine. However, the amount of caffeine contained in green tea is lesser as compared to coffee. To denote in numbers, green tea contains about thirty to sixty milligrams of caffeine in six to eight ounces while eight ounces of coffee contain more than a hundred milligrams of caffeine.