| Is any other food or drink reported to have as | | | | cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy |
| many health benefits as green tea? The Chinese | | | | tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL |
| have known about the medicinal benefits of green | | | | cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal |
| tea since ancient times, using it to treat | | | | formation of blood clots. The latter takes on |
| everything from headaches to depression. In her | | | | added importance when you consider that |
| book, Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a | | | | thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood |
| Healthier Life, Nadine Taylor states that green tea | | | | clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and |
| has been used as a medicine in China for at least | | | | stroke. Links are being made between the effects |
| 4,000 years.Today, scientific research in both Asia | | | | of drinking green tea and the "French Paradox." |
| and the west is providing hard evidence for the | | | | For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact |
| health benefits long associated with drinking green | | | | that, despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the |
| tea. For example, in 1994 the Journal of the | | | | French have a lower incidence of heart disease |
| National Cancer Institute published the results of | | | | than Americans. The answer was found to lie in |
| an epidemiological study indicating that drinking | | | | red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol |
| green tea reduced the risk of oesophageal cancer | | | | that limits the negative effects of smoking and a |
| in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty | | | | fatty diet. In a 1997 study, researchers from the |
| percent. University of Purdue researchers recently | | | | University of Kansas determined that EGCG is |
| concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits | | | | twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may |
| the growth of cancer cells.There is also research | | | | explain why the rate of heart disease among |
| indicating that drinking green tea lowers total | | | | Japanese men is quite low.Other Benefits New |
| cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of | | | | evidence is emerging that green tea can even |
| good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol. | | | | help dieters. In November 1999, the American |
| To sum up, here are just a few medical | | | | Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of |
| conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to | | | | a study at the University of Geneva in |
| be helpful:1) cancer | | | | Switzerland. Researchers found that men who |
| 2) rheumatoid arthritis | | | | were given a combination of caffeine and green |
| 3) high cholesterol levels | | | | tea extract burned more calories than those |
| 4) cardiovascular disease | | | | given only caffeine or a placebo. Green tea can |
| 5) infection | | | | even help prevent tooth decay! Just as its |
| 6) impaired immune functionWhat makes green | | | | bacteria-destroying abilities can help prevent food |
| tea so special? The secret of green tea lies in the | | | | poisoning, it can also kill the bacterium that causes |
| fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly | | | | dental plaque.Last is that Green Teas are better in |
| epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful | | | | its original form and not altered and industrialized |
| anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer | | | | as to be sold in Tea bags. |