7 Reasons to Drink Green Tea | Arthritis Information

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Besides the fact that it helps reduce inflammation....

The steady stream of good news about green tea is getting so hard to ignore that even java junkies are beginning to sip mugs of the deceptively delicate brew. You'd think the daily dose of disease-fighting, inflammation-squelching antioxidants--long linked with heart protection--would be enough incentive, but wait, there's more! Lots more.

CUT YOUR CANCER RISK
Several polyphenols - the potent antioxidants green tea's famous for - seem to help keep cancer cells from gaining a foothold in the body, by discouraging their growth and then squelching the creation of new blood vessels that tumors need to thrive. Study after study has found that people who regularly drink green tea reduce their risk of breast, stomach, esophagus, colon, and/or prostate cancer.

SOOTHE YOUR SKIN
Got a cut, scrape, or bite, and a little leftover green tea? Soak a cotton pad in it. The tea is a natural antiseptic that relieves itching and swelling. Try it on inflamed breakouts and blemishes, sunburns, even puffy eyelids.

PROTECT YOUR SKIN
In the lab, green tea applied directly to the skin (or consumed) helps block sun-triggered skin cancer, which is why you're seeing green tea in more and more sunscreens and moisturizers.

STEADY YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE
Having healthy blood pressure - meaning below 120/80 - is one thing. Keeping it that way is quite another. But people who sip just half a cup a day are almost 50 percent less likely to wind up with hypertension than non-drinkers. Credit goes to the polyphenols again (especially one known as ECGC). They help keep blood vessels from contracting and raising blood pressure.

PROTECT YOUR MEMORY, OR YOUR MOM'S
Green tea may also keep the brain from turning fuzzy. Getting-up-there adults who drink at least two cups a day are half as likely to develop cognitive problems as those who drink less. Why? It appears that the tea's big dose of antioxidants fights the free-radical damage to brain nerves seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

STAY YOUNG
The younger and healthier your arteries are, the younger and healthier you are. So fight plaque build-up in your blood vessels, which ups the risk of heart disease and stroke, adds years to your biological age (or RealAge), and saps your energy too. How much green tea does this vital job take? About 10 ounces a day, which also deters your body from absorbing artery-clogging fat and cholesterol.

LOSE WEIGHT
Oh yeah, one more thing. Turns out that green tea speeds up your body's calorie-burning process. In the every-little-bit-counts department, this is good news!

http://food.yahoo.com/blog/beautyeats/26529/7-reasons-to-drink-green-teaThanks Lynn49. I have a ?. I'm guessing you drink it so how do you like it? When I have Reg Tea I have it with Honey or milk./ Last time I tried it I did not care for it but willing to try it again....I like it a lot hot....but I definately have to have sugar with it. It's not half bad though. Does decaf work as well, anyone know?Green tea, as I understand it, is very low in caffeine.  I drink a 20 oz bottle of lipton diet green tea with citrus every day.  I think it's delicious!  I've completely cut out all soda, and drink this instead.  I have also changed to green tea when I brew it at home...just a bit of splenda to sweeten it, and it's wonderful.

 
I knew it was healthier for me than sodas, but I had no idea it had all these benefits!  Yay! 
I also love the diet Lipton green tea in a bottle, and another benefit is that it is supposed to boost antibiotics!  My daughter likes it, too.  She has requested that I bring a bottle in the car with me when I pick her up from school!  It's replacing Capri Sun for her - that's saying a lot LOL.  That's cool, Suzanne.  My 19 year old son has also taken a liking to green tea and has cut out sodas from his diet.  In fact, to give him credit...he's the one who introduced it to me, after he'd decided to quit drinking soda.  Now, if we can just get my hubby off  the stuff...but he's a diet coke addict!I'm still on diet sodas, too.....but green tea has replaced one or two a day now! We drink the diet Lipton too!  I hardly ever drink pop anymore.Okay, everybody, shhhhhhh....they are going to start marking it up now that they know we like it...... I'm starting to add some to replace the coffee. I tried this before, but I think I really need to do it now with the FM.

FWIW, the loose leaf kind is lower in caffeine than the bags. If you want to flush some of the caffeine out of it, a quick dunk in a cup of hot water, dump the hot water and refill. I buy the bags at Sams Club which is much cheaper than the local grocery store.
I have to get off coke!! I do like tea and thks for posting all those benefits.. I need them!! lol
   does anyone else, like it just w/ tap water?? Seriously , lol thats about as hot as i like tea.. or coffee!!
   Tho, summertime,  and iced tea is perfect.. i'm trying to lower the sugar,  so i like to mix the green tea w/ some raspberry or lemon/ citrus tea.
  Once i'm in the south visiting, planning on drinking gallons of Sweet Tea!!!
I love green tea.  I make hot water and add a green tea bag.  Then, I also add a dropper of green tea extract.  It comes in flavors as well.  It is very good and adds a bunch of egcg to it so it's like drinking about 5 cups in one.  I also add a dropper of green tea extract to my bottled water.  It is a bit pricy but tastes sooooo good! I get it on ebay as it's a bit cheaper that way!
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