Benefits of Green Tea
Keeping our body and mind in balance can be challenging, especially when facing illness. Taking a holistic approach to understanding the underlining conditions of poor health rather than just treating the disease leads to better health ultimately. Moreover, using an integrative approach has become much more mainstream and combines conventional and complementary approaches to improve overall health.
As we know health is much more than just a clinical diagnosis, it’s about living conditions, social connections, mental health, food, and beverage. This piece will focus on the beverage part because we know about tea. So, we wanted to share some promising insights on the powerful benefits of green tea.
Green tea has been consumed for over 1,000 years and has always been purported to have positive health benefits in the East. Not until fairly recently has the West begun to study and validate this ancient wisdom. There is a growing body of research demonstrating the benefits of green tea. I’ll just break down a few of the big insights and strongly encourage you to do your own research. The PubMed site has a great deal of scientific research about why green tea is beneficial. The Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, and Sloan Kettering provide excellent research on the benefits of green tea as well.
Green tea is packed with antioxidants to help combat disease and aging by decreasing free radicals that damage our cells. Green tea contains a powerful polyphenol called epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG that boosts immunity and fights disease. Green tea also contains the amino acid L-theanine which increases the growth of germ-fighting compounds found in T-cells, an extremely important kind of white blood cell. These cells help underpin our immune system and evolve from stem cells found in our bone marrow. There is compelling research that T-Cells protect the body from infection and may help fight cancer. The calming effect of tea is also attributed to L-theanine.
Also, green tea may bolster cardiovascular health by increasing HDL and lowering LDL and triglycerides. EGCG may help regulate blood pressure and enhance brain cognition. There are many other benefits associated with green tea consumption, but we’ll focus on just a few of the important aspects here. Please do your research and share any important findings with us.
As I write this, I’m drinking a cup of organic green tea and feeling positive. From our perspective, drinking green tea offers many health benefits, but please check with your doctor especially if you’re taking medication. Wishing you good health and happiness!