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12 Unbelievable Things You Didn’t Know About This Common Drink
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Are you a tea drinker? A coffee drinker? When you are finished with this article, you are going to be drinking a whole lot more green tea. Why? Because it can do things no other drink on earth can match!
This hasn’t really been a secret, however; at least not in China, where green tea has been used as medicine for thousands of years. Due to the way green tea is processed, it has many more health benefits than black tea. Green tea avoids the fermentation process when it is made, unlike black tea. By not being fermented, green tea keeps all of its antioxidants and the polyphenols that do so many things for the body.
Although black tea remains America’s favorite tea, green tea has so much more to offer us in the way of health benefits. Perhaps once word really gets out about everything that green tea can do for us, Americans might decide to go really green and start downing green tea the way they do their morning coffee!
You might have already heard that green tea is good for you, but chances are you don’t know the half of it! Keep reading and find out all 12 of the healthy things green tea has going for it.
1. Fights Allergies
If you are tired of fighting those watery eyes and that runny nose, try some green tea. Green tea has been proven in studies to be anti-allergenic. One compound in particular, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) appears to be the potent agent that cuts allergic responses. The journal Cytotechnology published a study from 2007 that found the polyphenol in tea reduces pollen allergies. Quercetin, a flavonol in tea, can also stop a histamine response by the body and the EGCG in green tea is the strongest anti-allergen agent found in any tea.
2. Weight Loss
This is perhaps green tea’s biggest claim to fame. It increases your metabolism, and the polyphenols found in tea work to oxidize fat at a higher level of intensity, so your body burns more calories rather than storing food as fat.
3. Stops Wrinkles and Other Signs of Aging
With its high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds, green tea appears to be the liquid fountain of youth when it comes to your skin! Studies done with both animal and humans have shown that green tea can stop free radicals from damaging your skin from the inside, and when applied topically, it can reduce the damage caused by UV rays. The British Journal of Nutrition found that even a fairly low dose of green tea catechins (540mg) along with just 50mg of vitamin C, over a two week period, was able to considerably reduce the effects of UV rays on the skin.
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