|
|
||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|||||
Is that green tea in your cup?
Are you aware that besides being a morning pick-me-up, there are several other possible benefits of supplementing your diet with green tea?
- Green tea may help to prevent certain cancers.
- Green tea may improve tooth and bone health.
- Green tea may improve heart health.
It seems like every day another benefit of green tea makes the headlines. Apparently for good reason, here are the latest findings.
A weight loss aid
Researchers believe that the antioxidants in green tea, known as catechin polyphenols, enhance weight loss by causing the body to bum additional calories as well as speed up the body's rate of metabolism. A number of studies continue to show that when combined with caffeine, these effects are significantly increased.For example, in Switzerland, volunteers were given a green tea extract with every meal. Throughout the next 24 hours, the participants displayed a 4 percent increase in energy expenditure. At first glance, 4 percent may not seem like much, but over time 4 percent can translate into a significant amount of burned calories - especially if combined with physical activity and a healthier eating plan.
A potent antioxidant
When you exercise intensely, your body needs to increase its use of oxygen to produce energy. This process results in the creation of free radicals. Free radicals can damage DNA, lipid (fat) and protein molecules, which can ultimately destroy living cells. However, athletes can help neutralize the damaging free radicals by consuming sufficient amounts of antioxidants.There are four primary antioxidants present in green tea and research suggests that they are considerably more effective at neutralizing free radicals than other potent antioxidants such as Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Beta Carotene, and even many fruits and vegetables. The most abundant antioxidant found in tea, epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG, is estimated to be 100 times more potent than Vitamin C and 25 times more potent than Vitamin E!
What about black tea?
Because of the higher concentration of EGCG, researchers have focused the majority of their attention on green tea. But, recent studies show that black tea can be beneficial too.The Rotterdam Study in the Netherlands discovered that among the 4,807 men and women who participated in the study, those who drink about two cups of black tea a day have a 50 percent less chance of a first heart attack than the subjects who don't drink any black tea.
In addition, the antioxidants found in black tea, theaflavins and teasaponins, appear to be just as potent as the antioxidants in green tea. According to studies at Tufts University in Boston, one cup of black tea has more antioxidant power against the most common type of free radical in your body, the peroxyl radical, than a half cup serving of broccoli, carrots, spinach, or strawberries.
How would you like your tea?
Of course drinking green or black tea is an excellent way to receive all of the potential benefits associated with tea, but it is not the only way. Dietary supplements containing tea are available in capsules, tablets, and powders. Some supplements even combine the benefits of green and black teas to give you the best of both worlds, such as Lean Tea Complex by Optimum Nutrition. So if you don't like the taste of tea, don't have the time to brew it, or you are concerned about keeping your "pearly whites" white, Lean Tea Complex is now available at Spinelli's Nutrition.
As if you need another reason to...
Use Green Tea
Researchers in Japan have discovered that EGCG
(epigallocatechin gallate) - the same compound
found in many green tea weight-loss supplements -
may act as an anti-allergenic substance by blunting a
cell receptor involved in producing an allergic
response. Though this study was done in vitro (in a
test tube), researchers are hopeful that future
studies, conducted with human subjects, will
continue to substantiate 1000's of years of anecdotal
evidence that tea, particularly green tea, effectively
reduces the sneezing, coughing, and watery eyes
associated with allergies.Yoshinori Fujirnura, Hirofumi Tachibana, Mari Maeda-Yamamoto,
Toshio Miyase, Mitsuaki Sano, and Koji Yamada. Antiallergic Tea
Catechin, (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-0-(3-0-methYD-gailate,
Suppresses Fc RI Expression in Human Basophilic KU812 Cells.
4gdc. Food Chem.; 2002; 50(20) pp 5729 - 5734.
|
|
| Shop Brand Names | Shop Categories | Search Products | |
|
Visit Our Retail Outlet:
Customer Service and Order Policy Other Sites | Articles | |
Subscribe
xml
Site Map
