If you’ve ever sipped on a soothing cup of green tea, you probably felt like you were doing something great for your body. Spoiler alert—you were! Green tea isn’t just a trendy drink; it’s a powerhouse of health benefits that’s been cherished for centuries.
The benefits of green tea are ample, enough so that experts will tell you it’s the healthiest beverage on earth. Green tea has healing properties that work both internally and externally. It has the ability to cure ailments that even the medical system can’t. The benefits of green tea can make you stronger, smarter, faster and healthier.
A Brief History of Green Tea
The origins of green tea can be traced back to ancient China, as the pun suggests. The story goes that in 2737 BCE, the scholar and herbalist Emperor Shen Nong made the unintentional discovery of tea. The tale says that as the water was boiling, he let a few tea leaves float into the pot, generating an aromatic infusion. The emperor was intrigued and gave the beverage a taste, which he found to be very refreshing. Ever since then, tea has played an essential role in Chinese culture.
Vietnam, Korea, and Japan were among the many East Asian nations that adopted green tea as a staple beverage throughout many decades. The Japanese developed the tea ceremony, a ritualistic practice that exemplifies awareness, respect, and harmony via the higher art of drinking green tea.
Green tea is celebrated as one of the healthiest beverages on the planet, and its nutritional composition is a big reason why. This powerhouse drink is loaded with bioactive compounds that provide a wide range of health benefits.
Key Components in Green Tea
- Catechins
- Polyphenols
- L-Theanine
- Caffeine
- Vitamins and Minerals
- Vitamins and Minerals
- Fluoride
Green tea is rich in antioxidants, particularly catechins like EGCG, which act as your body’s defense against harmful free radicals. These compounds reduce inflammation, improve heart health, and support weight loss. Antioxidants also enhance your body’s natural repair processes, youthful skin, strong immunity, and overall wellness and shields you from stressors like pollution and UV rays.
Top 12 Benefits of the Green Tea
Now I will here land into the exploration of the different benefits of the Green Tea.
1. Powerful Antioxidant
Green tea is packed with antioxidants that are believed to slow down the ageing process. Benefits of green tea due to it’s antioxidants include the prevention of heart disease and cancer.
Cancer develops due to oxidative damage which antioxidants are capable of protecting. This is how green tea reduces risk of cancer. A study showed that women that drank a lot of green tea had 19% less risk of developing breast cancer. In men, prostate cancer was 48% less of a risk when they drank green tea. In colorectal cancer, green tea drinkers were 57% less at risk.
2. Fat Burner and Energy Booster
The benefits of green tea as a fat burner and energy booster has been proven effective by a 10 year Taiwanese study. A 1,000 people were monitored for a decade which evidently showed the longer you consistently drink green tea, the more effective weight loss becomes.
Your endurance for exercise increases over time and the catechins in green tea burn fat. This is why you’re going to see green tea in fat burning supplements most of the time. Studies have shown that fat oxidation is increased by 17% when you consume green tea regularly.
3. You Live Longer
There are main contributing factors to dying younger than we should. There was a study that followed 40,530 Japanese adults for 11 years. Their founding were that the people drinking 5 or more cups of green tea per day were 16% less likely to die young.
Heart disease is 26% less likely for those that drink a lot of green tea daily. There is less risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer for those who drink a lot of green tea.
Statistically, women are 31% less likely to die from heart disease when they drink green tea and with men, it’s 22%. Female green tea drinkers are 42% less likely to die from a stroke while men are 33% less likely.
4. Cancer Prevention and Treatment
The benefits of green tea when it comes to an anti-cancer treatment are effective in many ways. The antioxidants actually starve cancer cells. It blocks negative enzymes from over producing which is one of the catalysts to growth of cancer in the body. Of the many high risk cancers, green tea has shown positive results to prevention and treatment.
Some of the cancers green tea helps with include; brain tumors, lung cancer, colon cancer, bladder cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer.
5. Anti Stress and Brain Booster
Green tea has Theanine in it which stimulates alpha brain waves. This allows the mind to calm the body and promote an awareness within. Theanine forces the neurotransmitter gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) into activity which addresses how muscles react to a situation. GABA also promotes dopamine and serotonin to react.
Dopamine and serotonin are the neurotransmitters in the body that are related to pleasure. Benefits to green tea for your well being means you will feel more relaxed and at peace when drank regularly.
As a brain boosting remedy, if you drink at least four cups of green tea daily, you boost your ability to concentrate on tasks. Green tea regenerates your brain cells and has been found to treat multiple sclerosis patients.
6. Body Rejuvenation
Green tea has bioactive compounds in it which contain a lot essential nutrients to rejuvenate the body. Substances that reduce formation of free radicals within the body include polyphenols (flavonoids and catechins). This protects your body at a molecular and cellular level from being damaged. The free radicals are capable of protecting against many fatal diseases.
Another one of the benefits of green tea is the powerful antioxidant Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG). There have been numerous studies that have shown this antioxidant can treat many diseases.
7. Assists in Heart Health
Our hearts become more at risk as we age due to arteries naturally hardening. Fat and cholesterol as well as blood platelets will build up in the artery wall. When this occurs, they clog up the artery which is why people have heart attacks and strokes.
There was a study conducted with hamsters that show green tea inhibits the hardening and thickening of arteries. The suggested use is to drink three-four cups a day to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Green tea also reduces cholesterol and triglyceride which naturally keeps the artery passageway clear.
8. Prevents Diabetes
With Type II diabetes being such a problem for our society, it’s becoming an epidemic. Another one of the benefits of green tea is it’s ability to inhibit the onset of diabetes. Green tea is able to improve the sensitivity of insulin in the body as well as reduce blood sugar levels. The compounds within green tea EGCG and theaflavins are able to increase insulin actives while promoting metabolism and blocking the absorption of glucose.
A study have reported that people who drink a lot of green tea daily are 42% less at risk of developing type II diabetes. When you drink six cups of green tea per day for a period of two months, you reduce your blood sugar levels by up to 20%.
9. Relieves Inflammation
Green tea is capable of being used as a treatment for anti-inflammatory problems. Two separate studies show that women can prevent rheumatoid arthritis by drinking green tea.
The EGCG in green tea can get rid of acne and pimples on the face and body without causing a reaction. Most patients won’t experience the dry skin and itching that are associated with allergic reactions to many of the rougher acne treatments.
10. Protects the Liver
When mice and rats were exposed to alcohol and carbon tetrachloride (toxic chemical solvent), it showed the benefits of green tea for protecting the liver. A study also showed that four weeks of keeping rats intoxicated, green tea prevented any damage to the liver.
Green tea is capable of reducing liver injuries and researchers are highly suggesting that it be used to treat liver disease. The antioxidants in green tea reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in the liver, with overall liver function
11. Promotes Dental Health
Bacteria in the mouth that causes the forming of plaque and contributes to tooth decay is known as streptococcus mutans. Green tea contains the catechins which inhibits growth of this bacteria. Green tea benefits also include the reduction of bad breath.
Additionally, green tea is a great alternative to soft drinks and juices because it’s non-erosive. Antioxidants like catechins in green tea can combat bacteria and viruses while protecting against dental caries and gum disease.
12. Bone Density
There have been various studies to suggest that drinking green tea can assist in the preservation of your bone density while reducing the risk of osteoporosis. The longer you drink green tea, the more you’re going to see the benefits.
Based on a four year study, green tea drinkers have shown to have better bone mineral density than those who do not drink green tea. It is believed that phytochemicals in the tea including flavonoids are the reason that green tea protects against bone less thanks to the estrogen-like properties.
