Green Tea Nutrition

Do you wonder if you can skip your daily multivitamins and use green tea instead? Aside from antioxidants and antibacterial nature, green tea is famous because it is loaded with vitamins and minerals.

Before anything else, allow yourself to realize that because green tea are grown in various ways, the amount and type of vitamins it can give you may vary too. However, some of the vitamins you can expect from the tea are the following.

Vitamin A. This vitamin is famous for its ability to promote good eyesight. Far from other knowledge, this vitamin can also encourage the presence of beautiful skin and healthy teeth. This vitamin further provides us with antioxidants, which is especially significant in destroying free radicals.

Vitamin B1. This vitamin is very important in stabilizing mental attitudes. This is the reason why vitamin B1 is also called as the “morale vitamin”. Aside from your mood, it also helps keep your muscle, heart, and nervous system healthy.

Vitamin B2. This vitamin has its link to weight loss, good red cell production, and proper body growth. This also prevents skin lesions.

Vitamin C. This is possibly the most famous vitamins there is because of its ability to ward off infection, neutralized free radicals, strengthen blood vessels, and maintains the body’s connective tissue.

Vitamin E. The women specially love this vitamin for its ability to stop aging and keeping the skin healthy. Aside from this, the vitamin too can promote proper bone, muscle, and heart functions. The best thing of all, vitamin E can stop degenerative diseases.

Aside from vitamins, green tea is also packed with minerals. However, like the vitamins, the growth of green tea will determine its mineral content.

Manganese. Green tea is known to be the most promising source of trace minerals manganese, which is very good for one’s reproductive health and physical growth. This mineral also helps in protein and fat metabolism.

Potassium. A person who lacks potassium can experience acne, fatigue, insomnia, and irregular heartbeat. So take green tea to regulate blood pressure and your heartbeat.

Fluoride. People know a lot about fluoride because it is an important mineral that stops tooth decay by strengthening the tooth enamel. Fortunately, green tea contains high level of fluoride.

As you can see, green tea provides us with many health benefits. It comes complete with vitamins and minerals necessary for a good functioning body.

Let us face it; we all love green tea. Part of showing our love for tea is by recycling the leaves. This way, we can make the most of the beverage until its very end. While we rely on a habit of throwing used leaves away after use, we should remember that we could actually recycle them.

You need to remove as much water from the tea if you are going to recycle them. You can first strain them and place them on a sieve. Allow the leaves to remain that way until they are completely dry. Also, remember to turn the leaves over while drying. While you may think that they are good as waste, you can actually do a lot with loose leaves—from household help, insect repellant to beauty treatment.

What You Can Do With Loose Leaf Tea

• You can employ used leaves for fresher breath. Just swish this in your mouth to enjoy a fresher breath after. You can also add some fresh peppermint leaves for better effect.
• Get rid of swollen eyes by applying cloth dipped in used tea in the affected area.
• Enjoy a pedicure within your home by using recycled loose tea. Just brew the leaves and use the liquids to soak your tired feet. You can even use the leaves to scrub your feet. You get a good moisturize aside from soothing tired feet.
• You can easily get rid of refrigerator odor by putting dried leaves in an uncovered bowl inside the fridge.
• Scrub the flour with leaves. The essential oils will condition your wood for a long-lasting shine.
• Deodorize your countertops with used leaves.
• You can place used leaves in your garden as fertilizers. Roses love to thrive in this plant brew, try it!

So next time you are going to throw away your used tealeaves, remember that you can still do many things with it. After all, recycling is fun!

Several studies confirm that both black and green tea have their effects against cancer. One proof of this is the statistics that cancer rate is lower among countries like Japan where the consumption of green tea is high. However, it is not enough to rely on a population-based study to conclude that tea has its good effect in the prevention of cancer.

Other studies suggest that polyphenols found in the tea, especially green tea can prevent cancer too. Researchers further believe that polyphenols can stop cancerous cells from multiplying.

How Green Tea Helps In Cancer Prevention

Breast Cancer. The polyphenols in green tea can prevent the growth of breast cancer cells. In a study with 472 women with cancer as the main respondents, researchers realized that women who consume the highest amount of green tea experienced the least spread of cancer. The research also realized that those women in their early stages of cancer and are into drinking 5 cups of tea each day are less likely to suffer from a recurrence of the disease after the completion of treatment.

Ovarian Cancer. In a study  conducted among patients of ovarian cancer in China, researchers found that those women who drink at least a cup of green tea per day has a longer chance of living than those who do not drink tea.

Bladder Cancer. There are only a few studies done to see the relationship between bladder cancer and the use of green tea. However, in a study that compared people with and without bladder cancer, it has been realized that women who are into drinking powdered green tea have a lesser chance of developing bladder cancer.

Colorectal Cancer. There is a conflicting result in a research that like to establish the effects of green tea to rectal or colon cancer. Some clinical studies say that there is a decreased risk for those who are into the tea while others show some risks. Other studies show that green tea has no effect at all to colorectal cancer.

Esophageal Cancer. Studies done among laboratory animals say that the polyphenols in tea can inhibit the growth of this kind of cancer. However, a conflicting result happens among humans. In a certain study, it was established that green tea could limit the development of esophageal cancer, while another study says that the tea can actually trigger the spread of this cancer.

Prostrate Cancer. Laboratory studies say that green tea prevents the spread of cancer cells in test tubes. In a study conducted in Southeast China, the researchers realized that the risk for prostate cancer start to decline while people increase the frequency and amount of green tea consumption.

Lung Cancer. There is a conflicting result in the study of green tea and lung cancer. Certain studies say that it can help stop the spread of this cancer while other studies prove otherwise.

Skin Cancer. Epigallocatechin gallate found in green tea provides anticancer and anti-inflammatory benefits that will stop the growth of skin tumors.

Steeping refers to the method of making a cup of tea, sometimes called as brewing. In most cases, you need 2 grams of tea in each 100ml of water. This is equivalent to one teaspoon of green tea added to five-ounce cup. This quantity may vary on the different kinds of tea. For high quality teas such as the gyokuro, you need more than this quantity of leaf and the leaf is steep for several times.

Depending on your preference, the steeping time and the temperature used will vary on the tea. The hottest steeping temperature plays around 81 degrees Celsius to 87 degrees Celsius. The longest steeping time is from 2 to 3 minutes. The coolest brewing temperature is somewhere between 71 degrees Celsius to 69 degrees Celsius, while the shortest time is 30 seconds.

In most cases, low quality green teas are steeped longer and at a hotter temperature setting. On the other hand, higher quality teas are steeped for shorter period and at a cooler setting. Making a mess by steeping the tea in a too hot temperature for too long will only lead to a bitter taste. Excessively hot water will release the tannin chemical.

High quality kinds of green tea are allowed to be steeped for multiple times, although two or three times steeping is usually the case. The steeping technique also has a role to play in preventing the tea from getting an overcooked taste. The container where the tea is steeped must be warmed so as not to immediately cool the tea.

Now that you know the rules in brewing green tea, go get yourself one. Enjoy a sip of this delicious and healthy drink on your own or with a group of friends. After all, everyone loves green tea.

The western world has been going crazy over green tea. However, the Chinese know the benefits of the tea even before the herb starts to concur the western world. It has been a stable drink of the Chinese culture for the belief that the tea can promote longevity of life.

The benefits of green tea are many that people use it to reduce the chances for heart disease. Weight loss and the prevention of dementia are other benefits that green tea can give. In view of this, scientists have been working hard to challenge the properties of green tea in terms of curing dementia.

Green Tea Under the Eyes of Science

Many research were made to prove or neglect the idea of green tea being a miracle herb. The scientist in Newcastle University in England is into the quest of dissecting green tea. They are very much interested to know how the properties of green tea work inside the body. These scientists believe that the properties of tea work better once they are ingested. They believe that there are two compounds that the tea would release to promote brain degeneration. These compounds are protein known as beta-amyloid and hydrogen peroxide.

For people who never had a taste of green tea, they may first have the impression that it tastes unusual. If however you look into its health benefits then you will understand that the taste is always worth the sacrifice. Nevertheless, there are also people who find green tea to taste good. Try a cup of tea now and see for yourself if you love or hate its taste.