For many centuries people of China used green tea for treating various diseases. However with the advancement of time, today people of west use green tea, realizing its several benefits. Green Tea has long been esteemed in China for its involvement to good health. Fame of Green tea in the United States persists to develop, viewing that green tea is an innate foundation of antioxidants. These antioxidants aid defend the body from accelerating aging and augmented danger of ailments. Years of research reveal that green tea restrains the expansion of objectionable cell colonies, thus building it the healthiest tea obtainable.
The benefits of green tea: Green tea has many health benefits, and it can be used for avoidance of the diseases: Cancer, Rheumatoid Arthritis, High Cholesterol, Cardiovascular Disease, cataracts, Infection, and Impaired Immune Function.
Green tea helps in weight loss course. The green tea leaves augments metabolism in the body there fore consumption green tea helps you burn more calories.
Green tea has the capability to fight bacteria and this can be counted as one of the chief benefits of green tea. This boosts your immune system thereby increasing the resistance power. It also helps kill bacteria that cause plaque and succeeding tooth decay. Green tea can help in fight food poisoning.
In addition, green tea can help lessening blood sugar level and cholesterol level in your blood.
Also green tea helps in getting rid of bad breath. Some element is present in green tea that stunts the growth of bad odor causing bacteria. Therefore a cup or two of green regularly can help in maintaining fresh breath.
If you are a chain smoker and also you consume around six cups of green tea a day then the propensity of risk caused due to the toxins emitted by cigarette smoke is reduced to a great extent.
Green Tea also contributes to maintain your beauty. With the help of green tea you can freshen up your face and apply around your tired eyes to get soothing feeling. If you have freckles or blemishes on your face you can apply the green tea to get rid of the spots. The green tea also has benefits for antiseptic purposes. It can be used to treat minor cuts, rashes and also can be treated to cure sunburn.
Green Tea is organically grown and the customary drying method used with Green Tea prevents the tea from the harmful effects of fermentation.
Products of green tea are available in different strength levels. Some supplements are comprised of low strengths of the active polyphones, whereas others go as far as using un-standardized green tea leaf powder.
It has been confirmed that green tea is stuffed with health benefits. It acts as a influential antioxidant, which has been identified to assist prevent cancer, pull through from the harmful cholesterol, and guard against harm caused by free radicals.
It has been reported by National Cancer Institute that Green Tea has Cancer avoiding aptitudes and components for fighting against insert fresh life to the market. People who have depended on costly anti-oxidant products are finding that Green Tea is very cost-effective and organic. Tea is one of the foremost selling fresh drinks, only after water.
However you manage to incorporate green tea in your diet, as well as it on a standard basis will help you receive utmost results. Put in green tea to a vigorous, balanced diet and exercise schedule for general fitness.
According to legend, the origins of tea began when Shen Nung, an emperor who ruled China 5,000 years ago, discovered the brew during a visit to a distant region of his realm. Shen Nung had issued an edict in his empire that all drinking water was to be boiled for health precautions. During this trip, the emperor and his retinue stopped to rest. His servants brewed water for the emperor and leaves from a nearby bush drifted into the cup of hot water. Out of curiosity, the emperor drank the resulting dark liquid and found it satisfying.
Whether this legend is true or not, most historians agree that the brew we know as tea today has its origins in ancient China. In 800 A.D., Lu Yu, a Buddhist monk disillusioned with his training, rebelled and subsequently went into seclusion. During this time, Lu Yu extensively wrote down the various methods of tea cultivation and preparation. The emperor during that period was so impressed with Yu’s work that the monk was deified as a saint.
Another Buddhist priest, Yeisei, travelled to imperial Japan and introduced the empire to the concept of tea as a vehicle to enhance meditation. Because of this, Yeisei became known in Japan as “The Father of Tea”. The popularity of the brewed drink spread throughout the country and became intrinsically associated with Zen Buddhism. Eventually, the drink would be elevated to an art form resulting in the ritual Japanese Tea Ceremony, an art form observed by Irish-Greek historian Patrick Lafcadio Hearn who lived among the Japanese and was re-christened Koizumi Yakumo. The tea ceremonies would eventually evolve into ceremonial tea houses hosted by traditional geishas.
Rumors about the brewed drink began to filter outside Asia, but early travelers were confused as to its value or even its appearance. This confusion cleared up when the Portuguese Jesuit priest Jasper de Cruz wrote about his personal encounter with the drink. The Portuguese established trade routes with China, and then began to export tea leaves to Lisbon. Dutch traders transported the leaves to France and Holland. The drink was particularly popular at The Hague and because of its inflated cost, was initially a luxury that only the rich could afford. The tea craze spread throughout Europe, and as sales expanded, prices decreased to a point where the average citizen could enjoy the brew. Russia’s introduction to the Asian drink occurred in 1618 when the Chinese embassy in Moscow presented chests of tea to Czar Alexis. Initially only enjoyed by Russian royalty and the wealthy, the price of tea had decreased significantly by the time of Catherine the Great’s death in 1796, and the drink spread throughout Russian society.
Tea arrived in the colonies and in Great Britain around the same time. Around 1650, Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of The New Netherland (New York) brought the first tea to American shores (although some historians claim that French botanist Andre Michaux was the first one to introduce tea leaves to American when he imported them along with other plants). The first samples of tea reached England between 1652 and 1654 and subsequently replaced ale as the national drink. In America, the exorbitant taxation on tea as well as on other items by the King of England resulted in the famous tea party rebellion in Boston in 1773, where the male citizens, dressed as Native Americans, threw hundreds of pounds of tea into the Boston harbor.
In the 1800’s, English and American cookbooks provided recipes on how to serve tea iced cold. Some of the oldest recipes for iced teas, known as punches, were made from green tea instead of the traditional black tea. In certain recipes, various liquors were added. In the South, tea enthusiasts found their iced tea more pleasant to drink when they added sugar and in some cases, lots and lots of sugar.
In the early 20th century, American tea merchant Thomas Sullivan noticed that many restaurants brewed their tea in bags to avoid the messiness of tea leaves. Sullivan took this idea and developed the concept of “bagged tea”.
All teas derive from the same basic plant, Camellia Sinesis. The plant is cultivated worldwide in both tropical and non-tropical regions. Although there are over 3,000 varieties, tea is divided in five basic categories:
Black tea is withered which leads to oxidation. Once the water is fully evaporated, the leaves absorb more oxygen. The characteristic brown and black leaves result. The taste is more robust than other brands and when brewed, the tea produces a higher level of caffeine.
Green tea is also allowed to wither. The resulting oxidation is then stopped by rapidly heating the leaves. The taste of this tea is more subtle and is less caffeinated.
Oolong tea (also known as wulong tea) undergoes partial oxidation only. It’s caffeine content and flavoring is between that of black and green teas. Many describe the taste as that of fresh fruit.
White tea is the most delicate and most subtle. Unlike the others, it has a natural sweetness. Hand processed using the youngest shoots, the tea goes through no oxidation and produces very low amounts of caffeine.
Puerh is more indigenous to China and has an earthy flavor. More prized for its medicinal properties, the aged black tea was illegal in the U.S. until 1995. It’s taste is strong and peaty. The closely guarded process for the tea is unknown outside of China.
Today, tea has evolved into a multimillion dollar industry. Billions of drinkers worldwide continue to appreciate the various flavors and textures of a drink that originated as an “accident” 5,000 years ago.
Green Tea: An Effective Weight Loss Solution
Did you know that Green Tea is one of the most effective weight loss supplements that you can consume to help you lose weight?
Well, it is. According to recent studies, when combined with sensible lifestyle changes green tea can help dieters lose weight, burn fat, increase metabolic rate and suppress their appetites.
Unlike black tea which is highly processed and fermented, green tea is made by slightly steaming the freshly gathered leaves, which prevents them from becoming fermented or changing color. After steaming, the leaves are dried by lightly pan frying them in a wok, baking them in an oven or heating them with hot air until they are crispy. The resulting beverage is a greenish-yellow tea with a slightly astringent flavor.
More and more often you’ll find extracts of green tea being included in a lot of popular weight loss products today.
One of the main reasons for this is because of one of green tea’s chief ingredients. Polyphenols, which are responsible for the color of the leaves of some plants, are a group of substances found in green tea. These polyphenols benefit weight loss by helping the body to burn fat naturally by increasing body heat and energy expenditure.
Green tea also causes carbohydrates to be released slowly, preventing sharp increases in blood-insulin levels. This promotes the burning of fat.
Another of the main ingredients in green tea is antioxidants. Antioxidants are organic substances, like vitamins A, E and C which are thought to be effective in helping protect the body against the harmful effects of free radicals – which cause the destruction of living cells, cancer, stroke and heart disease.
One of the most extraordinary characteristics about green tea is that studies have shown it is about 200 times more potent an antioxidant than Vitamin A, Vitamin C, E or curcumin in some instances. Additionally, just one cup of green tea has more antioxidant effect than a serving of strawberries, spinach or carrots.
Caffeine is another component in green tea which scientists think plays an important role in green tea’s ability to help people lose weight. Green tea contains less caffeine than coffee. There are approximately 30 to 60 mg. of caffeine in 8 ounces of tea, compared to more than 100 mg. in 8 ounces of coffee.
Combined with Polyphenol compounds, caffeine in green tea acts as a stimulant to the body to help promote fat loss. In a recent study, participants taking green tea extract and still following normal diet experienced a significant increase in their energy expenditure.
The researchers concluded that participants using green tea extract had increased fat oxidation beyond what could be attributed to the caffeine they consumed.
This indicates that green tea contains beneficial components that affect the body’s metabolism in such a way that favors weight loss. Additionally, scientists observed that participants in a study on green tea did not show any increase in heart rate, which suggests that green tea may be an excellent alternative to many stimulant-based diet aids.
If helping people to lose weight was not enough, green tea provides additional health benefits far and beyond weight loss, including:
Protects against Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s
Fights cavities and helps stop tooth decay and gum disease
Prevents osteoporosis
Protects against ovarian cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer and prostate cancer
Lowers cholesterol
Helps the body to fight viruses
Controls high blood pressure
Normalizes healthy bacteria in the intestines
Helps prevent heart disease
Thus far, no harmful side effects have been found in drinking green tea or taking green tea extract capsules. This makes green tea one of the best health supplements available for weight loss and overall health.
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