Green Tea Weight Loss and More Benefits

For thousands of years, green tea has been used for its medicinal properties. The Chinese are known for having used green tea to cure all types of maladies from headaches to irregular bowel movement. These days, there has been no report of any other plant that is used for food or drink to be as healthy as green tea. Also, the effectiveness of green tea has not only been proven in China. Research from all parts of the world has attested to green tea's benefits to human health. Not only has green tea been proven as good for minor ailments, but for major illnesses as well. Distinguished organizations such as the Purdue University have claimed that green tea stops growth of cancer cells. Moreover, the National Cancer Institute, in its journal, published a study in 1994 stating that risks of esophageal cancer among Chinese men and women is reduced because of drinking green tea.

The goodness of green tea is attributed to the abundance of antioxidants in it. Catechin polyphenols such as epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG is abundant is green tea. EGCG as an anti-oxidant is quite powerful in the sense that not only does it contain and stop the growth of cancer cells; it also protects the remaining healthy cells from being infected. EGCG also is the anti-oxidant that effectively lowers LDL cholesterol levels, and stops the formation of irregular blood clots or thrombosis. Thus, other diseases such as heart attacks and stroke are also evaded.

Green Tea Vs. Wine

The effect of green tea in the body has been an Asian/Eastern phenomenon as the European phenomenon with wine. As noted in other studies, despite the French enjoying a diet that is as rich in fats and cholesterol as their American counterparts, incidences of heart disease are relatively lower in France. Researchers have concluded that this is the case because of the resveratrol content of red wine, a powerful anti-oxidant in a French meal mainstay. Now, American groups such as the University of Kansas have concluded that EGCG is twice more potent as resveratrol. This is linked as well to low heart disease rate among Japanese men, more than a quarter of who are smokers. Furthermore, what is good in green tea is that green tea is steamed, not dried, which makes the EGCG compound intact and not oxidized.

Among the benefits of green tea, weight loss is one of the benefits fitness enthusiasts want to avail of. Research results from around the world have indicated that high density lipoprotein or HDL (the good cholesterol) has increased over low density lipoprotein or LDL (the bad cholesterol) upon regular prolonged intake of green tea. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found results that a caffeine-EGCG combination, such as what is found in green tea, when being consumed by people, burn more calories than people who just consume caffeine as in what is found in coffee.

Therefore, consuming green tea for weight loss in highly beneficial and should not be considered as just another fad fitness craze. Indeed, green tea has been proven to be a champion in the promotion of good health as there are countless benefits from drinking it.