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It appears that a green tea diet may hold at least a few properties of those golden elixirs, fountains of youth, and magic potions we've all heard about over the years. Listed below are just a few:
Green tea contains anti-oxidants that:
1. Helps to prevent cancer.
The is some
strong evidence that green tea included in you every day diet
can reduce bladder, colon, esophageal, pancreas, rectum, and
stomach cancer up to 60%. An antioxidant known as
"epigallocatechin gallate" (EGCG for short) is at least 100
more times more effective than vitamin C and 25 times more
effective than vitamin E at protecting cells from harmful
influence.
The amazing thing about it that EGCG it not only inhibits
the growth of new cancer cells it also kills some of the
existing cancer sells without harming the healthy ones.
2. Staving off Alzheimer's.
A green tea diet may delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease. A British study found that drinking green tea inhibited three important brain-battering chemicals: acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and beta-secretase. Before you get your tongue twisted around your eye teeth and can't see what your saying with these three-dollar words, all you really need to know is that they are three chemical culprits associated with breaking down chemical messengers and forming plaques and protein deposits in the noggin's gray matter - definite hindrances to crystal clear thinking.
3. Stops the unnatural formation of blood
cloth which if not taken care of will cause
thrombosis. It takes on added importance if you consider that
thrombosis is one of the main causes of strokes and heart
attacks.
4. Lowers "bad" cholesterol (known as LDL)
and improves the ratio of "good" cholesterol (known as HDL).
It explains why tea-drinkers can eat almost twice the foods
containing cholesterol as those who don't drink green tea, but
still have an equal cholesterol count.
5. Lowers blood sugar (polyphenols and
polysaccharides are the two main antioxidants are especially
effective in lowering blood sugar). That helps prevent and
relieve type-two diabetes.
6. Reduces high blood pressure by
repressing angiotensin II which causes constriction of the
blood vessels causing high blood pressure.
7. Promotes oral health by suppress the
process of plaque formation and destroys the bacteria that
forms plaque. It also destroys bacteria that causes bad
breath, so after eating something sweet I suggest you drink a
cup of green tea.
8. Protects liver against toxins like
alcohol and chemicals in cigarette smoke.
9. Possess antibacterial and antiviral properties. Recent studies show that green tea inhibits the
spread of disease, speeds up recovery from cold and flu. It
also kills seven strains of food poisoning bacteria including
clostridium, botulus and staphylococcus (which makes it a good
treatment for diarrhea).
10. Destroys free radicals that cause
aging.
11. Helps your body to maintain healthy fluid
balance and relieve fatigue and stress often caused
by dehydration.
12. Boosts your immune system function
(because of its high concentration of polyphenols and
flaveboids).
13. Blocks main receptors that produce allergic
reactions.
14. Stimulates metabolism, calorie burning
process and is wildly being used as an important part of a
healthy diet.
It is important to know that black tea, even though it
comes from the same plant as a green tea, will not give you
the same benefits. Black tea during fermentation process loses
most of its medical benefits.
The best way to preserve all the disease-fighting
nutritions is to drink your tea freshly brewed. All the
decaffeinated, ready-to-drink bottled or instant teas will
give you very little of natural health compounds. It is better
to let your tea steep for about 4-5 minutes before drinking
it. To date, the only negative side effect reported from drinking green tea is insomnia due to the fact that it contains caffeine. However, green tea contains less caffeine than coffee: there are approximately thirty to sixty mg. of caffeine in six - eight ounces of tea, compared to over one-hundred mg. in eight ounces of coffee.
Love the idea of a green tea diet but can't stand the taste of tea? Don't despair. There's hope for you, yet! Green tea extract comes in pill form, as well, so you'll need to come up with some other excuse! Taken as a dietary supplement, green tea extract usually comes in 500 mg. capsules taken two or three times daily. Now, that's not hard, is it? And no bitter-beer-face aftertaste, either!
So whether you take pills or sip it from a cup, the benefits gained from a green tea diet cannot be ignored. Well, they can, but that would be stupid, right? And since you're smart enough to be reading this great article, that proves you've got a leg up in the brains department (please don't take that literally!). But I digress. The point here is to consume green tea - one way or another. And if you're not willing to give up the green eggs with your ham, well, then, at least add green tea to the meal. But if the ham is green ... toss it! | 
