Showing posts with label Radical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Radical. Show all posts
Amazing Green Tea Health Benefits.
least 4,000 years. It's benefits to human health have been
widely known and talked about ever since it was first
discovered. Legend says that green tea was discovered in
2737BC when the emperor Shen Nung was boiling some water
for drinking and some leaves from a tree nearby blew into
it. The wonderful smell induced the emporer to try this new
drink and he found the taste heavenly and very refreshing.
Green tea was later brought from China to Japan by Buddhist
monks.
Green tea, like black tea is made from the leaves of the
plant Camellia sinensis. The difference between the three
main types of tea is the way that they are produced. Green
tea is unfermented tea meaning that the leaves used for
green tea are steamed soon after been plucked in order to
prevent the oxidation of the leaves. In this way the leaves
remain green and the active substances within the leaves
retain their qualities. Black teas on the other hand are
made from fermented leaves and as a result have less
nutritional and enzyme content as the green tea. Thus green
and black teas have different chemical properties.
Modern science has in recent times been able to
demonstrate that green tea is beneficial to one's health
and this is mainly due to the fact that tea contains high
levels of antioxidants called polyphenols or flavonoids.
The antioxidant activity of tea has been compared to that
of fruit and vegetables in a number of studies. One study
concluded that consuming three cups of tea a day produced a
similar amount of antioxidants as eating six apples.
Antioxidants help your body fight against free radicals
which cause damage to cells and tisuues in your body.
While all tea is healthy to drink, it is green tea that
contains the highest level of flavonoids. Recent medical
studies suggest green tea to be beneficial in many areas
including the following:
-Digestive and respiratory health.
-Lowers cholesterol levels
-Boosts your immune system
-Reduces high blood pressure
-Arthritis - anti-inflammatory effect.
-Oral hygiene - due to antibacterial properties.
-Skin conditions such as acne
-Lowers blood sugar
Another potential benefit is in the area of weight loss.
Research recently published in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition suggests that an extract from green tea
may speed up fat oxidation. Ten healthy men in their 20's
were studied for 6 weeks and it was discovered that those
men who were given a green tea extract used more calories
in a day than those who did not. This appears to be due to
green tea having thermogenic properties thus causing the
body to burn fat faster than usual. One word of caution
though - if you need to lose weight - and all you do is
drink green tea without making any other lifestyle changes
then do not expect an instant miracle! However green tea
combined with a healthy balanced diet and regular exercise
provides will help you in your weight loss program. Lorraine Bevere is the webmaster of FOG Tea, Inc. which isa premier source of information about tea. For questions orcomments about this article, please visit:http://fogtea.com
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Green Tea and Polyphenols
What are Polyphenols?
Polyphenols are compounds found in nature. More specifically they are found in plants and provide coloring for some. Their purpose appears to be a potent, natural antioxidant. There are many plants that we consume that contain polyphenols. Concentrations are high in Olive oil and Green Tea and have been the subject of many health articles and promoted to enhance your health.
How do Polyphenols work?
These antioxidants eliminate free radicals, unstable molecules that are the major cause of both aging and disease, in both plants and humans. Free radicals continually attack the body. Free radicals are a normal product of metabolism and result in a process called oxidation. Polyphenols and other antioxidants, including beta carotene (a vitamin A precursor), vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium, scavenge these free radicals and help to prevent formation of unstable oxygen molecules, known as oxidation. Oxidation can damage healthy cells in the body and have been linked to many diseases including cancer, heart disease and stroke. Polyphenols not only work to prevent diseases but may also help to reduce abnormal cells and inflammation; get rid of cancer causing agents and restore cells back to normal health.
What foods contain Polyphenols?
There are many but there are only a few, which contain particularly high levels. They include red wine, olive oil, black and green tea. Green Tea is the #1 source of polyphenols. These extremely high levels of polyphenols deliver green tea's unique results in several ways. Just one example is a subgroup of polyphenols, exclusive to green tea, called catechins. EGCG, the most abundant and powerful of green tea's 5 main catechins, is dubbed the 'super antioxidant' because it is 200 times more powerful than the popular antioxidant vitamin E. Unfortunately, polyphenols have a quick life span (short half life) of about 3 hours, thus the scientific reason behind researchers' recommendation to drink green tea a minimum of 8 times a day.
Not only may green tea protect and heal the body from disease but also clinical trials, conducted by the University of Geneva, in Switzerland, indicate that green tea raises metabolic rates and speed up fat oxidation. In addition to caffeine, green tea's catechin polyphenols raise thermogenesis (the rate at which calories are burned) and hence increases energy expenditure. And, research at the University of Chicago has shown green tea extract injections in rats to cause appetite suppression. They consumed 60 percent less food and lost 21 percent of their body weight. However, as explained by the scientists, a person would have to drink green tea almost constantly to obtain these results. Green tea patches have been developed as a solution. They contain up to 300mg of polyphenols (30 times the potency of regular green tea) and provide a constant supply over 48 hours.
Research is still continuing with green tea and more health benefits continue to be discovered. For instance, EGCG's may one day play a role in treatment of mad cow disease (Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, DOI:10.1038/nsmb743). And the formation of unstable oxygen molecules in the body is unavoidable. Aging, smoke, and environmental pollutants are all sources of the damaging free radicals. Japan and China have benefited from drinking green tea vs. black tea, like the rest of us, for centuries. The west is just now catching on to the benefits of green tea. With green tea being no more harmful than a cup of coffee (and actually containing less caffeine) there's no reason why you shouldn't begin today to benefit from green tea too.
Chemical name:
Various
Also known as:
Green Tea Polyphenols, Green Tea Water Extract, Black Tea Polyphenols, Black Tea Water Extract, Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), Polyphenon E (Mitsui-Norin, Ltd.), Topical Polyphenon E (Epitome Pharmaceuticals Ltd.)
Category:
Phytochemical
Source: Free Articles
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Protective Antioxidants - Is Green Tea Really Better For You?
I hear a lot of people saying that green tea is better for us than coffee or the traditional orange pekoe and black tea. But is it really? If it is, what makes green tea so special?
Well, according to Lipton, green tea provides 190 milligrams of something called 'protective antioxidants' and that is 40 milligrams more than the amount of protection found in the regular tea blend. The regular tea is a blend of orange pekoe and black tea.
Protective antioxidants help our bodies by providing an internal shield against free radicals. Free radicals are the molecules that can damage our other cells.
However, we should be careful when comparing what is better for us. The protective antioxidants found in green tea provide benefit to many, sure, but the amount of antioxidants is only a single factor. How your particular body absorbs antioxidants is actually more important.
If you need to watch your caffeine, green tea is better for you than black tea blends. Unlike black tea which has about 40 milligrams of caffeine per cup, green tea has very little caffeine -- 1/2 the caffeine of black tea in fact. But guess what? The latest research on caffeine shows that caffeine provides some health-related benefits, too. So people who need caffeine to stay focused, alert and productive may prefer to have a cup of black tea instead of the green stuff. It may be safer for them healthwise as well.
You can skip both green tea and black tea altogether and get your antioxidants from fruit and vegetables -- the way nature intended. Other sources of antioxidants are collard greens, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, oranges, watermellon and red wine. What is "better for you" is a matter of who you are, what your health needs are and what works for you Comments about this article are welcomed and can be posted to www.askblax.com.
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Skin Care and Green Tea
Have you heard the buzz about green tea and its health benefits? Here's the breakdown. The active principles in tea are called polyphenols. The polyphenols found in tea mainly belong to a type called catechins. Green tea has more catechins than black tea. White tea has a similar amount of catechins as green tea but less is known about white tea. The primary catechins in green tea include gallocatechin (GC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin (EC), and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).
Many studies have shown green tea to have positive effects against free radicals, cardiovascular damage, some cancers, and toxins. Topical green tea formulations appears to minimize sun damage by neutralizing free radicals and reducing inflammation rather than by blocking ultraviolet rays.
How should you incorporate green tea into your skin care regimen? Sun screens use use zinc oxide which is inert and does not change the catechins in green tea; therefore, the best use of green tea to use it in addition to a sunscreen. The perfect application would be a kit containing a sun screen with a minimum SPF of 30, as well as an exfoliating cleanser, and a vitamin C serum to work synergistically with the catechins in green tea. The combination of protection from UV light, exfoliation of dead skin, enhanced collagen production from vitamin C, and the repair of environmental damage from the tea should produce visible results in 4-8 weeks of use.
Keep in mind that protection from the sun is the most important ingredient in anti aging skin care.
© 2006, Clara Myers. Great Face offers many spa quality products containing green tea as well as cosmetics and skin care information from around the Internet. Visit Great Face at http://great-face.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Clara_Myers
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The Benefits of Green Tea: Why It's Good For You
Scientists and nutritionists have found that this wonderful brew does indeed have medicinal properties that can help in preventing several types of illnesses, which even includes cancer. In fact, there are even doctors who recommend green tea and even endorses that this particular tea plays a great role in maintaining good health.
Health professionals all over the world recommend that people should drink 3 to 4 cups of green tea a day in order to help in protecting the body against various ailments.
So, just what are the benefits of this so called miracle brew that it even baffled health professionals from all over the world?
First of all, this tea contains high levels of antioxidants, which are called polyphenols or flavonoids.
What are antioxidants you may ask?
First of all, you need to understand that the body does millions of processes occurring at all times. Even when you are asleep, the brain is active and will require oxygen in order to function properly. However, the oxygen that we breathe in can create harmful side effects, or what most people know as oxidants. These oxidants or commonly known as free radicals are introduced to our system through external sources, such as pollution, stress, smoking, diet, and even exposure to the sun.
And, these free radicals are known to be one of the main contributors in the growth of cancer cells.
So, in order to counteract the effect of oxidants or free radicals, we will need to introduce antioxidants in our body. And, green tea has a lot of them. Although some foods do have antioxidants, you will see that green tea has a lot more.
In fact, the antioxidants found on green tea are much higher than that found in grape juice and red wine. This explains why there are a lot of scientists who are studying the benefits of green tea.
Besides antioxidants, this brew also contains vitamins, such as vitamin B6, which plays a vital role in the metabolism of the body, as well as vitamins B1 and B2, which are essential for releasing energy from food.
Another great thing about this tea is that it has key minerals and contains magnesium, which is essential for bone growth and body development as well as potassium, which helps in keeping the heart pumping normally and maintain the body's fluid levels.
All in all, green tea can provide great benefits to the body. It can inhibit the growth of cancer cells, it discourages diabetes from developing, and it also is a very good treatment for bad breath.
And that's not all; there are some studies that found that green tea can also fight acne, Alzheimer's disease, and fights of bad cholesterol which are the sole contributors for heart diseases and stroke.
Today, there are also some scientists that claims to find that green tea may contain the key ingredient for finding a cure to HIV as it helps boosts the body's immune system.
These are just some of the great benefits of green tea. So, the next time you feel like drinking tea or coffee, you might want to go for green tea. With this brew, you can be sure that you will be able to enjoy a refreshing drink as well as a healthier body.
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Green Tea: Cancer Fighting Miracle Brew?
Only recently, green tea has been introduced in the west. And, people love them. Most people say that they never felt healthier in their entire lives, and health buffs even said that this tea is a miracle drink. Ever since then, the entire world is now drinking green tea on a daily basis.
So, is green tea really that wonderful? Does it really fight off cancer?
For starters, green tea has a lot of benefits. The main benefit of this brew is that it has antioxidants which are known to fight off cancer cells. So, to answer the question on whether green tea can prevent cancer, the answer is yes. It gets rid of free radicals from your body which leaves it free from toxins that can contribute to cancer.
This brew is full of the antioxidant called epigallocatechin-3 gallat or what is more known as EGCG. Unlike black tea, green tea is not fermented, which preserves EGCG. Because of this fact, this brew is much more beneficial than black tea and has a more positive effect in fighting diseases, which includes cancer.
You have to remember that when free radicals enter our body, it will have an effect to our cells. If this happens, it will make abnormal cells, which can result in cancerous cells that can reproduce all over your body creating tumors.
Free radicals can enter the body in different ways. It can be because of exposure to cigarette smoke, pollution, and it can even be because of exposure to excessive sunlight.
Whatever it is, it is important that we should get rid of free radicals from our body in order to keep it healthy and cancer free. Although some of the food we eat contains antioxidant, you have to remember that it is not really enough to fight off the amount of free radicals that enter our body. The best way to counter free radicals is by taking in more antioxidants in your body. This is where green tea comes in.
Because green tea has a high concentration of antioxidants, it will be able to fight off free radicals more effectively. With just three to four cups a day, you can be sure that you will be able to keep your body healthy and cancer free.
In fact, green tea is so effective that even the National Cancer Institute conducted studies on this so-called miracle brew and found that it does help in preventing cancer. Today, scientists are now looking at green tea as a key part of creating a cure for cancer. In time, thanks to this century-old brew, we will now see a cancer cure for the very first time.
One study even found that the antioxidants found in green tea was able to shrink tumors and prevented it from reproducing more cancerous cells and growing.
As you can see, green tea does help in preventing cancer. With the scientific studies being done with green tea today, it is only a matter of time that we will be able to see a cure for cancer.
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Green Tea Diet Facts
Working out a natural diet
By incorporating at least 3 cups of green tea in your meal daily, you are enhancing a more balanced diet. Together with exercise, green tea has turned out to be more effective than ever. There is no such thing as how many servings every meal can green tea be incorporated. No exact doses. Just one cup every breakfast, lunch, dinner and even during midnight snacks is sufficient enough to be part of your daily diet.
Green tea preserves all its important compounds like antioxidants because it is brewed and not fermented, It is advisable to drink green tea while it’s still hot because live antioxidants are very prominent and its valuable nutritional affects are also preserved. It’s better to purchase and brew loose green tea leaves than the bottled or powdered ones because they are not as effective as brewing.
Black tea versus green tea
Black tea is not similar to green tea at all. While green tea is typically brewed, black tea is fermented. The fermentation process of black tea tends to eliminate the important vitamins and nutrients that are beneficial to health. Therefore, it is concluded that green tea is proven to be more effective than black tea.
Green tea diet benefits
• Reduce the risk for hypertension and high blood pressure
• Destroy free radicals
• Maintain healthy fluid and electrolyte balance that can help relieve fatigue and stress
• Lower increased amount of cholesterol level
• Toxin prevention in the liver
• Antiviral and antibacterial properties
• Reduce incidences of cancer in parts of the body like colon, pancreas, esophagus, rectum, bladder and stomach by up to sixty percent
• Increased metabolism
• Strengthen immune system
• Stops thrombosis formation which is the cause for heart attacks
Caffeine content
Thoughts about the caffeine content in green tea have bothered and quite alarmed avid drinkers of the beverage. Although, there are ways to lessen the caffeine content in your green tea by adjusting yourself in the effects and observing the tolerance of your body.
Warning on green tea caffeine
• If you have a medical condition or you’re pregnant, be sure to consult your physician first before consuming the beverage.
• Drink moderately. Caffeine is not the only thing that can do negative effects when increased. Higher concentration of polyphenols can damage the kidney and liver. Don’t drink 8-10 cups of green tea a day. That can be very harmful especially if you have a low tolerance level. The more acceptable intake is at least 3-4 cups a day.
• Don’t be fooled by energy drinks made from green tea. Aside from diminished or very less antioxidants, energy drinks have high sugar content. Drinks like these have already undergone a lot of processes that may lose important nutrients upon reaching your body.
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Green Tea: Reasons Why You Should Start Drinking It
So, just what's all the hype about this centuries old brew that it made everyone absolutely crazy about it? From scientists, to health buffs, to regular people, what it is about green tea that is so great that it seems that almost everyone is drinking it?
First of all, this brew existed for thousands of years. The Chinese and the Japanese have been drinking this for centuries, and is still part of their daily life, and they even said that this tea can keep your body healthy.
Today, scientists have found that there is more to green tea than your average everyday tea. To start, it has antioxidants that are known to help fight off or prevent cancer, and it is also full of certain vitamins and minerals that contribute to making your body healthier.
To name all the benefits, here are 7 reasons why you should start drinking this miracle brew:
• Cancer
As mentioned before, green tea is filled with antioxidants that helps counter the effects of oxidants or what we commonly know as free radicals. By fighting off free radicals, it will help prevent cancer.
• Diabetes
Most people who are diabetics have been found to have low metabolism rate. This means that they cannot get rid of carbohydrates easily which will be stored as fat in the body. This will also increase the blood sugar levels in your body. With green tea, it will increase your metabolism rate and increase your energy levels, which will help in preventing diabetes. Studies on lab rats have found that it is very effective in preventing diabetes and also proves to be an inexpensive way to do so.
• Bad breath
Green is known to help in keeping the teeth and gums healthy. Also it helps in keeping the mouth clean and free from odor-causing bacteria. If you have a bad breath, then this brew can definitely help give you a fresher and nicer smelling breath.
• Acne
Because green tea has antioxidants, it can help in preventing acne as well as treating it. Also, it helps in reducing the inflammation that is associated with acne. By drinking this brew, you will definitely see it as an inexpensive way to treat acne and help you get a smoother skin.
• Alzheimer's disease
Another benefit that green tea provides is that it helps in protecting the brain from Alzheimer's disease. Green tea has been found to prevent plaque deposits in the brain, which is the cause of this very serious disease. With green tea, you will definitely have a healthier brain and a sharper mind.
• Cholesterol
Studies have found that green tea can help in fighting and reducing bad cholesterols. It is also a natural anticoagulant. All in all, it will help in keeping your blood pressure low, as well as prevent heart diseases and strokes. Green tea is also about giving you a healthy heart.
• HIV
Last but not the least; green tea has been linked to help in preventing HIV. Because green tea naturally increases the body's immune system, studies have found that the EGCG that is naturally found in this brew can boost your immune system. Therefore, it may not be very far in the future that green tea will contribute a lot in HIV prevention and cure researches.
These are 7 reasons why you should start drinking green tea. Indeed, this brew can do miracles to the body. If you want a healthier body, then this brew is definitely for you.
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Home Remedies of Green Tea
Green tea is not just your typical beverage. It’s more than a liquid being coordinated with every meal. With these trying times, it had become an integration to remedies of body illness'. For most people who consume green tea, they believe that it is a kind of miracle drink. It benefits almost all of the body’s functions. From teeth to skin care, green tea has already been a kind of general measure for preventing certain diseases.
To prove that green tea has become an essential part of a person’s health, below are just some of the many benefits of tea when it comes to health.
Oral Indication
Green tea is said to have certain compounds that can kill bacteria in a person’s mouth, thus eliminating high chances of cavity accumulation. Cavities can be good source for halitosis or bad breath to form. Before that happens, drink green tea. With just a few green tea gargles, you can protect your teeth from having tooth decay. Of course you have to lessen or eventually get rid of sweets to totally protect your teeth from destruction.
Green tea has the properties of fluoride which can strengthen gums and teeth and aiding in the prevention of decay formation. Commercialized green tea mouthwashes are being sold that comes in different tingling and intriguing flavors.
Skin Indication
Regarding skin diseases, green tea is said to have exhibited positive outcomes in treatment and further care of skin. Two of the most irritating skin diseases are being discussed – eczema and acne. If you have acne, you can use it as an astringent that can be combined to other elements to produce concoction and is applied to the skin with a cotton ball. It is an alternative to expensive astringents and toners. Should you choose to drink it instead, the effect will still be the same but you risk yourself in taking the caffeine too. Mixing green tea with other ingredients like olive oil can help treat eczema.
Medicinal Indication
There have been a lot of intriguing knowledge about the medicinal contribution of green tea to the body. It is said that daily intake of green tea can provide further prevention for easy-accumulated diseases and infections. Because of the free radicals that are circulating around a person’s body, it has become more prone to disease but not until the discovery of antioxidants which helps in flushing out free radicals inside the human body. Free radicals can cause terrible cell damage which can affect the body negatively.
With these benefits mentioned, no wonder a lot of households trust the wonderful effects of green tea. It has proven a lot of medical result that are exceptionally elaborate and more so, being effective in almost all aspects of health and fitness.
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