*The Miracle of Green Tea*

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*The Miracle of Green Tea**"Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one." (AncientChinese Proverb) ***Is any other food or drink reported to have as many health benefits as greentea? The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea sinceancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches to depression.In her book *Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life*, NadineTaylor states that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for atleast 4,000 years.Today, scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hardevidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea.For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute publishedthe results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green teareduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearlysixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that acompound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is alsoresearch indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels,as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL)cholesterol.To sum up, here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking greentea is reputed to be helpful:- cancer- rheumatoid arthritis- high cholesterol levels- cariovascular disease- infection-impaired immune function*What makes green tea so special? *The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols,particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerfulanti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancercells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in loweringLDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of bloodclots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider thatthrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause ofheart attacks and stroke.Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the"French Paradox." For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that,despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the French have a lower incidence ofheart disease than Americans. The answer was found to lie in red wine, whichcontains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects ofsmoking and a fatty diet. In a 1997 study, researchers from the Universityof Kansas determined that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, whichmay explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low,even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.Why don't other Chinese teas have similar health-giving properties? Green,oolong, and black teas all come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensisplant. What sets green tea apart is the way it is processed. Green tealeaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. Bycontrast, black and oolong tea leaves are made from fermented leaves, whichresults in the EGCG being converted into other compounds that are not nearlyas effective in preventing and fighting various diseases.*Other Benefits*New evidence is emerging that green tea can even help dieters. InNovember, 1999, the *American* *Journal of Clinical Nutrition *published theresults of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchersfound that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green teaextract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.Green tea can even help prevent tooth decay! Just as its bacteria-destroyingabilities can help prevent food poisoning, it can also kill the bacteriathat causes dental plaque. Meanwhile, skin preparations containing green tea- from deodorants to creams - are starting to appear on the market.*Harmful Effects? *To date, the only negative side effect reported from drinking green tea isinsomnia due to the fact that it contains caffeine. However, green teacontains less caffeine than coffee: there are approximately thirty to sixtymg. of caffeine in six - eight ounces of tea, compared to over one-hundredmg. in eight ounces of coffee.*How much Green Tea should you drink?*There are as many answers to this question as there are researchersinvestigating the natural properties of green tea. For example, *Herbs forHealth* magazine cites a Japanese report stating that men who drank ten cupsof green tea per day stayed cancer-free for three years longer than men whodrank less than three cups a day (there are approximately 240 - 320 mg ofpolyphenols in three cups of green tea). Meanwhile, a study by Cleveland'sWestern Reserve University concluded that drinking four or more cups ofgreen tea per day could help prevent rheumatoid arthritis, or reducesymptoms in individuals already suffering from the disease. And Japanesescientists at the Saitama Cancer Research Institute discovered that therewere fewer recurrances of breast cancer, and the disease spread lessquickly, in women with a history of drinking five cups or more of green teadaily.It gets more confusing. A University of California study on thecancer-preventative qualities of green tea concluded that you could probablyattain the desired level of polyphenols by drinking merely two cups perday. On the other hand, a company selling a green tea capsule formulainsists that ten cups per day are necessary to reap the maximum benefits.How can you make sense of these conflicting claims? Given all the evidence,it is probably safe to plan on drinking four to five cups of green tea perdaily. If you're a real devotee, by all means drink more; but whether or notyou'll derive added health benefits remains to be determined by furtherresearch.*How to Brew a Cup of Green Tea*Producing the perfect cup of green tea is a tricky process. If not handledproperly, those same polyphenols that provide health benefits can ruin theflavor, making the tea taste "gassy." It's particularly important not tooverbrew. While it's best to follow the manufacturer's instructions for eachvariety of green tea, here are some general instructions:- Use one tea bag, or 2 - 4 grams of tea,* per cup.- Fill a kettle with cold water and bring to a boil.- After unplugging the kettle, allow it to stand for up to 3 minutes.- Pour the heated water over the tea bag or tea, and allow it to steepfor up to 3 minutes. If using a tea bag, remove the bag.- Allow the tea to cool for three more minutes.*One to two teaspoons, depending on the variety of green tea you arebrewing.http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa011400b.htm

 

 

The coward believes he will live forever If he holds back in the battle, But in old age he shall have no peaceThough spears have spared his limbs Stanza 16 of the Havamal (the Sayings of Har) from the Poetic Edda

 

 

 

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