green tea

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http://hfn-usa.com/articles/020717-greentea.html New scientific

studies prove that you can live longer—and enjoy

numerous health benefits—by drinking the most popular beverage in

the world.

 

 

 

If you're a coffee lover, you might want to reconsider your drink of

choice. Coffee may give you the energy boost you crave, but if you

want to live longer, maintain healthy weight, and enjoy a reduced

risk

of cardiovascular disease and cancer, you might consider switching

over to green tea.

 

Green tea has been used throughout Asia for thousands of years to

promote longevity, improve mental functions, and prevent disease. But

it is only within the past twenty years or so that green tea has

become a

popular healing tonic in the West. As a result of both historical

accounts and current research, tea has gone from a simple beverage to

a

functional food with ample evidence of its health promoting

properties.

 

Green tea proven to reduce risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease

 

Numerous population-based studies have demonstrated that green tea

consumption is associated with a significantly lower risk for many

types of cancer. In addition to the population-based evidence, green

tea

and green-tea extracts have been shown to exert many anti-cancer

effects in experimental studies.

 

Two newly published reviews on the health properties of tea and its

active constituents, tea polyphenols, examined the many mechanisms

of tea's healthful effects on cancer and cardiovascular disease.

 

1) The first study found that tea:

 

• produces potent antioxidant effects

 

• supports induction of detoxification enzymes

 

• helps regulate abnormal cell growth and cancer

 

• prevents LDL cholesterol oxidation

 

• improves the function and growth of beneficial intestine bacteria

 

In addition, the authors found that many of the so-called " western

nutritionally-linked cancers, " caused by poor diet, and " lifestyle-

related

cancers, " caused mainly by tobacco use, can be prevented by tea

consumption. These cancers include prostate, stomach, pancreas,

breast, lung, and colon cancers.

 

The authors conclude that, " The regular use of tea, a widely

available,

tasty, inexpensive beverage, has displayed valuable preventive

properties in chronic human diseases. " Because optimal effects of tea

consumption require up to 10 cups of tea daily, and because green tea

has the highest quantity of the main active tea ingredients, the

availability of standardized green tea extracts in easy-to-use

capsule

form has made it convenient for anybody to obtain the amazing

benefits

of tea. 1

 

2) A second large study in Japan examined the effects of green tea on

cancer and cardiovascular disease. This study looked at the effects

of

drinking less than 3 cups a day versus the effects of drinking more

than

10 cups of green tea daily. The finding was that drinking large

amounts

of green tea resulted in an almost 50% reduction in cancer incidence

and a significant delay in the development of those cancers that did

occur.

 

In the case of cardiovascular disease, a 30% reduction was found to

result from large intakes of green tea. Not surprisingly, these

researchers also found that green tea consumption resulted in an

extension of lifespan among those people who drank the largest

amounts. While drinking more than 10 cups a day of tea is difficult

for

most people, the availability of highly concentrated green tea

extracts

in capsule form has made it possible for anyone to easily obtain the

benefits of drinking large amounts of green tea. 2

 

Lose weight … live longer

 

One recent study confirms that tea catechins—potent antioxidants—are

effective in suppressing increases of glucose and insulin

concentrations

in the blood. Since blood sugar tends to increase with age, this

effect is

an extremely important anti-aging benefit.3 Another study indicates

that one of the specific catechins, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg),

lowers appetite, body weight, blood sugar, and insulin levels. 4

 

Plus, tea polyphenols inhibit the activity of amylase, a starch-

digesting

enzyme found in saliva and in the intestines. Starch is broken down

more slowly, and the rise in serum glucose is minimized, so that you

don't crave sweets and other snack foods after eating a meal. 5 Since

insulin is our most fattening hormone and, with cortisol, our most

pro-

aging hormone, if you take green tea in the form of a nutritional

supplement, you gain a wide range of benefits that accompany calorie

and insulin control.

 

The Far East paradox

 

Researchers have wondered about the Far East medical paradox for

many years. If cigarette smoking is so prevalent in China and Japan,

why is heart disease so rare? Also, why do the Japanese people remain

so thin, when obesity has become an epidemic in the United States?

 

We now know, thanks to scientific studies, that antioxidants in green

tea help reduce the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)

or " bad "

cholesterol, a process that can lead to clogged arteries and

cardiovascular disease. 1, 6

 

And to answer the second question, the " starch blocking " effect of

green tea (3,4,5) may be part of the reason Japanese people living in

Japan can eat so much rice but remain thin. They have a tradition of

drinking green tea with every meal!

 

So, if you want to keep your weight under control, decrease your risk

of

getting cancer and developing cardiovascular disease, and maintain

healthy blood glucose levels, drink lots of green tea … or take a

good

nutritional supplement that contains green tea extracts extract.

 

Related Products

For related products see Green Tea Extract from Health Freedom

Nutrition.

 

References

 

1. Weisburger JH, Chung FL. " Mechanisms of chronic disease

causation by nutritional factors and tobacco products and their

prevention by tea polyphenols. " Food Chem Toxicol 2002

Aug;40(8):1145-54

Abstract

 

2. Nakachi K, Matsuyama S, Miyake S, Suganuma M, Imai K.

" Preventive effects of drinking green tea on cancer and

cardiovascular

disease: epidemiological evidence for multiple targeting prevention. "

Biofactors 2000;13(1-4):49-54

Abstract

 

3. Horigome, T., Kumar, R and Okamoto, K.: Brit J. Nutr., 60,275-285

(1988)

Abstract

 

4. Kao YH, Hiipakka RA, Liao S. " Modulation of endocrine systems

and food intake by green tea epigallocatechin gallate. " Endocrinology

2000 Mar;141(3):980-7

Abstract

 

5. Kreydiyyeh SI et al. " Tea extract inhibits intestinal absorption

of

glucose and sodium in rats. " Comp Biochem Physiol C Pharmacol

Toxico Endocrino 1994;108:359-65.

Abstract

 

6. Luo, M., et al. " Inhibition of LDL oxidation by green tea

extract. "

The Lancet 199, 349:360-361.

Abstract