Due to the inactive lifestyle some people live and the unhealthy eating patterns; obesity has become one of the major health issues in our society today.
It is estimated that more that 50% of the American population is overweight or obese. An increasing awareness on the risks of obesity, a lot of people are now aiming to lose weight and live healthy lifestyles. Although it takes having better eating habits and more active lifestyles, being on a diet plan is also a very popular because it helps on the goal to lose weight.
While it is critical to lose weight, people also realize that the diets they join must be risk free and do not have any negative side effects in the short or long term. This is where green tea comes in.
Green tea is a natural ingredient which not only helps with weight loss, but also brings various health benefits for improved body vitality and longevity.
What Is Its Background?
The green tea diet has been extremely appreciated by the Chinese as an herbal and medicinal drink for four thousands of years. It comes from the plant called Carmellia sinensis. The key health benefits of green tea diets are due to the fact that it is steamed during the process of making it, thus preserving the natural antioxidants in its original form. This is very beneficial to one’s health as the body can easily and quickly absorb these antioxidants.
What Are The Health Benefits Of Green Tea Diet?
There are many health benefits associated with the diet.
For one it can help prevent cancer. Some specific substances called epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG in green tea diets help in destroying cancer cells without harming any neighboring tissues.
EGCG is also helpful in boosting the 24-hour energy expenditure of the body. Based on a study on the special diet conducted by American and Swiss scientists at the University of Geneva, it was shown the tea causes an additional increase of 4% in the body’s natural energy expenditure. People who were on a green tea diet were more likely to use up more fats than those not on the diet, thus helping with reducing stored fat.
Green tea diets have also been shown to greatly help in reducing cholesterol levels. Another study was conducted in China using 240 people with high cholesterol levels as subjects. These people were placed on a green tea diet of one capsule (equivalent to seven cups of green tea) every day. After 3 months, those who were on the diet dropped 16% in their cholesterol levels.
In recent studies, it has also been shown that green tea diets can also be a potential cure to obesity. The catechin polyphenols available in the diet can holdup the reaction of gastric and pancreatic lipases in the body. These enzymes are responsible for converting calories in the body into fats. By delaying these enzymes, the diet can therefore stop fat from being stored and prevent obesity in people.
In addition, the special type of diet contains considerable quantity of caffeine which means it mildly suppresses appetite. However, the caffeine is not as high as those found in other caffeine-based beverages, like coffee. These high levels of caffeine are potentially harmful for the body since an excess of it can cause heart palpitations, hypertension, and insomnia. Because green tea contains only very low levels of caffeine, there is no risk of experiencing these negative side-effects.
Green tea can potentially offer several benefits to your diet. It is recommended to include the wonderful drink in your diet. With this weight loss strategy, not only can you drop those pounds, but you can also boost your overall health and vitality.
May 14, 2008
Green Tea For Diets And Health Body
May 11, 2008
The Origins of Tea
The Origins of Tea
The British have been drinking tea for more than 350 years, but tea in other countries predates this by more than 4 millennia!!
Here's a detailed history of the origins of tea and how it became the world's favourite drink.
the first cup of tea was an accident
Our story begins over four and a half thousand years ago. According to Chinese mythology, in 2737 BC the Chinese Emperor, Shen Nung, scholar and herbalist, was sitting beneath a tree while his servant boiled drinking water. A leaf from the tree dropped into the water and Shen Nung decided to try the brew. The tree was a wild tea tree.
There are many authentic and supposed references to tea in the centuries before Christ, according to the Chinese dictionary dated circa 350 AD. The Chinese t'u was often used to describe shrubs other than tea, hence the confusion when Confucius allegedly referred to tea or t'u when writing about the "sow thistle" plant in the Book of Odes.
tea gets its name
From the earliest times tea was renowned for its properties as a healthy, refreshing drink. By the third century AD many stories were being told and some written about tea and the benefits of tea drinking, but it was not until the Tang Dynasty (618 AD - 906 AD) that tea became China's national drink and the word ch'a was used to describe tea.
The first book on tea "Ch'a Ching", circa 780 AD, was written by the Chinese author Lu Yu. It comprises three volumes and covers tea from its growth through to its making and drinking, as well as covering a historical summary and famous early tea plantation. There are many illustrations of tea making utensils and some say that the book inspired the Buddhist priests to create the Japanese tea ceremony.
The modern term "tea" derives from early Chinese dialect words - such as Tchai, Cha and Tay - used both to describe the beverage and the leaf. Known as Camellia sinensis, tea is an evergreen plant of the Camellia family. It has smooth, shiny pointed leaves which look similar to the privet hedge leaf found in British gardens.
tea drinking catches on
As Buddhist priests start to move around China and Japan, the spread of cultivation and tea drinking follows them.
The Indian and Japanese legends both attribute it to Bodhidharma the devout Buddhist priest who founded Zen Buddhism. The Indian legend tells how in the fifth year of a seven year sleepless contemplation of Buddha he began to feel drowsy. He immediately plucked a few leaves from a nearby bush and chewed them which dispelled his tiredness. The bush was a wild tea tree.
The first mention of tea outside China and Japan is said to be by the Arabs in 850 AD and it was they who were reputed to have brought it to Europe via the Venetians circa 1559. However, it is the Portuguese and Dutch who claim the credit bringing tea and tea drinking to Europe.
The Portuguese opened up the sea routes to China, some say as early as 1515. Jesuit priests travelling on the ships brought the tea drinking habit back to Portugal, while the sailors manning the ships encouraged the Dutch merchants to enter the trade. Subsequently a regular shipment of tea to ports in France, Holland and the Baltic coast was set up in 1610. England entered the trade via the East India Company, or the John Company as it was known, in the mid to late 17th Century.
Japanese Green Tea Health Benefits
Japanese Green Tea Health Benefits
Japanese tea is called Ocha and is referred to Green tea. Green tea is one of the most popular beverages in Japan. Green tea harvest starts around May 1 every year in Japan. Green tea farms are fulled with bright green tea leaves.
Japanese Green tea is known as a drink which has many benefits for your health. Dr. Oguni, Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences in University of Shizuoka, Hamamatsu College, Japan discusses the healthy benefits of green tea in his site, Green Tea and Human Health.
* Preventing food poisoning
Catechin, the bitter ingredients of green tea in green tea effectively kills bacteria which causes food poisoning and also kills the toxins produced by those bacteria.
* Reducing the risk of cancer
Catechin is said to be effective to reduce the growth of cancer.
* Practicing good oral hygiene
Catechin suppresses the formation of plaque by cariogenic bacteria and also kills the bacteria themselves. It also kills other bacteria that cause bad breath. Green tea contains natural fluorine which helps prevent cavities.
* Preventing the increase of cholesterol
Catechin prevents the excessive buildup of blood cholesterol.
* Controlling high blood pressure
Catechin suppresses production of angiotensin II which leads to high blood pressure.
* Lowering blood sugar
Catechin and polysaccharides are effective in lowering blood sugar.
* Slowing the aging process
Consuming agents that are effective antioxidants will slow the aging process. Green tea is rich in vitamin E, which works as antioxidant. Also, catechin in green tea is a very strong antioxidant.
Japanese people like to drink green tea after meals.
Green Tea Health Benefits
Green Tea Benefits
Is any other food or drink reported to have as many health benefits as green tea? The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches to depression. In her book Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life, Nadine Taylor states that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at least 4,000 years.
Today, scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.
To sum up, here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful:
* cancer
* rheumatoid arthritis
* high cholesterol levels
* cariovascular disease
* infection
*impaired immune function
The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.
Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the "French Paradox." For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans. The answer was found to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet. In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas determined that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.
Why don't other Chinese teas have similar health-giving properties? Green, oolong, and black teas all come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. What sets green tea apart is the way it is processed. Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. By contrast, black and oolong tea leaves are made from fermented leaves, which results in the EGCG being converted into other compounds that are not nearly as effective in preventing and fighting various diseases.
New evidence is emerging that green tea can even help dieters. In November, 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.
Green tea can even help prevent tooth decay! Just as its bacteria-destroying abilities can help prevent food poisoning, it can also kill the bacteria that causes dental plaque. Meanwhile, skin preparations containing green tea - from deodorants to creams - are starting to appear on the market.
To date, the only negative side effect reported from drinking green tea is insomnia due to the fact that it contains caffeine. However, green tea contains less caffeine than coffee: there are approximately thirty to sixty mg. of caffeine in six - eight ounces of tea, compared to over one-hundred mg. in eight ounces of coffee.
May 2, 2008
Different Types of Green Tea
Different Types of Green Tea
If you try to buy green tea in a supermarket – even in a very large one – the chances are that you’ll only find one kind of green tea: the kind with ‘green tea’ written on the packet. The green tea that these packets contain tends to be of the absolute lowest quality, and so they are best avoided. Instead, you should try to buy your tea from Chinese markets or food stores, or order it over the Internet, as then you will be able to choose from the full range of green teas.
So which different green teas are there? Well, the most common green tea in Western countries is low-grade Gunpowder – that’s the stuff you’ll generally find in the supermarket. It is used because it is cheap, and stays fresher for longer than other green teas, because of the way it is rolled up into little balls.
The most popular green tea in China is Dragon Well, or Lung Ching, a bright green and quite expensive kind of tea. Many consider it to be the best green tea, but because it is expensive and not very much is produced, it is prone to imitation – make sure you trust whoever you’re buying this tea from to sell you the real thing.
In Japan, green tea drinkers prefer Sencha, a sweeter kind of green tea. It is cheaper than Dragon Well, more the kind of tea you could drink every day, but none the worse for it. Sencha is also more readily available over here than Chinese green teas tend to be, and there is a slightly cheaper version called Bancha as well.
The sweetest kind of green tea is Macha, the tea used in the Japanese tea ceremonies. It is very expensive and very nice, and tastes more like a luxury dessert than the everyday tea you’re probably used to – in Japan, it is a popular flavour of sweets and ice cream. If you ever get a chance to drink Macha, it’s well worth trying, because it really is the king of green teas.
Herbal Green Tea. Green Tea and Herb Combinations
Green Tea and Herb Combinations
There are many herbal green tea varieties available, and these green tea and herb combinations can add interesting dimensions of flavor to green tea. For example, mint leaves give green tea a refreshing twist. Rooibos added to green tea imparts a slight fruity taste, as well as the additional benefits of rooibos antioxidants.
Herbal Green Tea for Health
Adding certain herbs to green tea can also provide remedies for illness. Echinacea herbal green tea may help strengthen the immune system to fight flu and cold. Ginseng herbal green tea is a revitalizing and energy boosting combination. Ginger herbal green tea is a useful blend to ease a sore throat or to aid digestion.
Asian Green Tea
Asian Green Tea
Korean Green Tea
Chinese and Japanese green teas may be more widely known than Korean green tea, but tea is very much part of Korean culture, and there are varieties of traditional Korean green tea. Korean green teas are more rare, and therefore more expensive. Tea gardens in Jeju and Boseong produce green teas on an industrial scale. Korean green tea varieties include Ujeon, Sejak, and Jungjak.
Sri Lanka Ceylon Tea
Sri Lanka's tea industry was financed and developed by Thomas Lipton in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Today, tea is an important industry in Sri Lanka, and provides employment either directly or indirectly to over a million people.
Vietnamese Green Tea
The Vietnamese tea industry has experienced substantial growth in recent years, with the aim to provide tea internationally on a larger scale. Teas are grown in the lush midland area of Vietnam.
