Green Tea as an Effective Health Drink

In the world where many diseases emerge every year, it is common for people to think about their health. This is why many companies are producing products that have potential health benefits for the consuming public. One of most marketed products today are health drinks that were derived from plants with soothing properties such as tea.

Tea itself is considered a health drink especially for the Chinese who have been using it for its medicinal benefits roughly 4,000 years ago. In some other countries where there is cold climate, tea is a very popular drink next to water. Basically, tea has four types: the black tea, the oolong tea, the green tea, and the white tea. Each of which is said to have benefits that can help the overall well being of a person.

Green tea's secret

But among all these types, green tea stands out because many health drinks, beauty products, and even food make use of it. Experts say that the reason behind this demand for green tea is because it is rich catechin polyphenols—more specifically in "epigallocatechin gallate" or EGCG, which is a very powerful anti-oxidant.

Coming from the leaves of the plant called "camellia sinensis," experts say that green tea is considered are superior among the rest because it processed in the very different way. Unlike other types of teas, which are obtained from fermented leaves, the leaves of green tea are steamed. This is to ensure that the EGCG will not be oxidized unlike in the fermentation process where the EGCG are converted into other forms complex compounds.

Healthy benefits

One of the reasons why people use healthy drinks and products that are derived from green tea is to maintain a healthy body that is away from diseases or illnesses.

Since green tea is believed to be the healthiest among other types of teas, people consume it to veer away from certain medical conditions or to cure existing health conditions such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, high cholesterol levels, cariovascular diseases, infections, tooth decay, and various impaired immune functions as well as help people to lose weight.

More and more people who are at risk with cancer and even those who are already suffering from the condition are using green tea as a health drink because of its high EGCG content. Experts believed that EGCG could inhibit the growth of cancer cells in the body by killing the cells without causing harm to other cells and tissues.

Many companies also use green tea in their products because EGCG itself can lower LDL cholesterol levels while inhibits "thrombosis," the abnormal formation of blood clots in the body which are major causes cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and stroke.

In the field of losing weight, more and more people are using green tea as a health drink because it is believed that the extract from the green tea is able to burn more calories compared to placebo or caffeine. For those who have dental concerns such as tooth decay, green tea can also help avoid this because it contains bacteria-destroying properties that kills the bacteria in plaque.

Although green tea has many proven benefits to people who use it as a health drink, experts still warn that it should be used in moderation. This is because green tea still contains caffeine, which can cause insomnia attacks to people who have low caffeine tolerance.