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12 Reasons to Drink More Green Tea (#5 Is All the Reason You Really Need)
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Green tea must be the healthiest drink in the world, hands down. If you have recently decided to ditch sodas and those unhealthy energy drinks, you are not alone.
However, if you are missing your caffeine and are bored to death with water, we hear you! Green tea can solve most of your problems. Green tea has enough caffeine to be helpful, but not enough to make you jittery. Much healthier than sodas could ever be, it can even help you drop some pounds. And let’s face it: Green tea just plain tastes good! Sales of green tea are steadily on the rise in the U.S. and the great taste is just one of many reasons.
Most people have no idea just how healthy green tea is! If you haven’t heard, keep reading and discover all the things you never knew about green tea.
1. It Can Make You Smarter
Seriously! Green tea contains caffeine. Not as much as coffee — but that’s a good thing. Caffeine blocks an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain called adenosine. By blocking adenosine, it increases the amount of firing that your neurons are doing and increases the concentration of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine. Caffeine has been studied heavily, and these studies consistently show that it leads to improvement in brain function, improves your mood, and increases your concentration levels, memory, as well as lessening reaction time. Green tea also contains an important amino acid called L-theanine, which is one of the few elements able to cross the blood-brain barrier. This amino acid increases the activity of GABA, a neurotransmitter that calms feelings of anxiety. Due to the smaller dose of caffeine, but with the presence of L-theanine, green tea can give you a different type of buzz than coffee, and it’s one you are sure to love.
2. Lowers Your Risk of Depression
The L-theanine amino acid previously mentioned not only makes you smarter, it is also thought to provide relaxing effects and reduce the risk of developing depression. If you suffer from depression, or if you are at a high risk of developing depression, try adding three or more cups of green tea to your life. You should experience results within four to six weeks.
3. Contains Bioactive Compounds For Super Health
More than any other tea, green tea is loaded with polyphenols, such as catechins and flavonoids, which are powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants fight free radicals that damage our DNA and cause serious health problems on a cellular level. One of the most powerful active ingredients in green tea is called EGCG, or epigallocatechin gallate. This is a powerful antioxidant which has been well-studied and is known to treat various diseases.
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