There are many ways to loose weight, and green tea can be a fantastic way to help that process along.
Helping to loose weight isn’t the only health benefit though! When you think of super healthy things to buy for your household, you might think of vitamin supplements, medicines or fruit and veg.
But did you know that there is a humble mug-based preventative to a plethora of nasty conditions and even potentially fatal illnesses. Green tea is your greatest ally against all sorts of things that will keep you healthy and beautiful and could even save your life.
Incredibly popular amongst hippies and the health-conscious, have you ever wondered why people wax lyrical about green tea? There are so many benefits that you might think someone was trying to sell you snake oil.
It truly is a powerful agent in the fight for well-being. It really is a fantastic addition to your store cupboard and we barely have enough space to list all the reasons, but we’ll give it a good shot.
Every major beauty brand has realised the potent beauty abilities of the humble green tea leaf, in fact in Chinese and Japanese medicine and beauty it has a 2,000 year history. It is most commonly used as a topical ingredient in face masks, scrubs, toners, bath soaks and hair rinses to revive skin and hair.
First of all, it burns fat. What could be better in a beverage that isn’t packed full of nasty sugars and additives? It has less caffeine than coffee (up to 70%) and makes a great alternative if you want to have a pick me up in the morning that also speeds your metabolism.
It can burn 70 calories a day, which equates to 7lbs lost a year! Another surprising beauty function performed by green tea is the prevention of bad breath and cavaties, as it contains a natural anti-bacterial.
To keep colds at bay and the doctor away, green tea should be gargled as it boosts your natural immunity to bacteria and viruses such as colds and flu, as confirmed by studies in Japan and Harvard University.
Allergy responses can be helped by a compound in green tea that blocks the receptor that produces reactions to allergens. Anyone who suffers allergies will welcome this news.
Heart disease is the UK’s biggest killer, causing almost 74,000 deaths a year. By limiting the oxidation of the LDL cholesterol in arteries, green tea consumption can lower it and help to prevent heart disease.
It also reduces the formation of abnormal clots which can cause strokes and heart attacks. Furthermore, green tea is a natural ACE (angiotension-converting enzyme) inhibitor, which lowers blood pressure.
It has been reported that diabetes could escalate to such an extent over the next 20 years, that the NHS could be bankrupted in its treatment in patients. It already uses 10% of the entire NHS budget. Green tea helps to lower blood sugar levels and so can stop the onset of diabetes.
Green tea inhibits the Cox-2 gene which triggers inflammation, by doing so it can help in relieving the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. It also lowers iron levels in the body which can have a preventative effect against viral hepatitis.
When taken in large amounts, as in up to ten cups of green tea a day, it has been found that cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer’s can be lowered.
Natural antioxidants contained in green tea are now being put to use elsewhere from the humble mug. Doctors are developing a cream to ward off skin cancer – Polyphenols contained in the green tea help to hinder the growth of cancerous cells.
Additionally, green tea has been found to contain epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) which reduces blood vessel growth, which fights cancer.
