Four Surprising Benefits of Drinking Tea

Tea is a beverage that is consumed by millions of people across all planets because it is known as one of nature's greatest drugs. It comes from the dried out leaves, stalks, and stems of plants, and water is added to make it a beverage. It can be consumed as a hot or cold drink as well as plain of sweetened, depending on what you add to it. Some of the most mainstream varieties are green tea, chamomile, and white tea, but there are hundreds of other varieties. Here are four health benefits of tea to help motivate you to add it to your day.

Tea helps to fight cavities. Polyphenols in tea inhibit the growth of oral bacteria, which is a leading cause of tooth decay. It also has fluoride in it, which is a well known cavity fighter.

It will give you great looking skin. Tea is known to have many antioxidants in it. Antioxidants have been shown to slow down and sometimes reverse the signs of aging. They do this by destroying free radicals, which are the cause of aging in cells.

It can reduce your cholesterol and lower your blood pressure. Studies are beginning to show that tea can cut down your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Studies have shown that consuming tea daily can cut down hypertension by almost half. Just one cup a day is enough to enjoy better cardiovascular health. Tea can also help lower stress and put you in a better mood. Studies have shown that it relaxes the body and mind. This is important because most of us live a very stressful life, which is bad for the body and overall health.

These are just four benefits of drinking tea and there are still many others. Find a type that you like and try to drink some daily. You can brew it in the morning and replace your morning cup of coffee or drink a cold glass of iced tea with lunch or dinner. You can feel good when you drink it because it tastes great and it is very beneficial for your health.

The author of this article has been writing online for four years now. Not only does she enjoy writing about health and fitness, but she also helps families obtain inexpensive life insurance by providing free quotes for term life.

Posted under Tea

This post was written by Sylvia Hoffman on November 12, 2009

Tags: , , , , ,

Fighting Prostate Cancer Naturally

If you have been following the latest developments in medicine and science, you will know that prostate cancer is now the number one killer of men over the age of 45. Even though doctors have been trained about this killer and more is known about how to prevent prostate cancer, most men are reluctant to follow a good diet or simply do not know how to reduce their risk of getting prostate cancer.

There are a number of ways that men can reassure themselves however.

Below is a list of medical facts and suggestions from various credible sources that every man should know about.

One in every 6 men will suffer from prostate problems in their lives. So there is no need to feel isolated or a victim. Just take action and get to a doctor quickly at the first sign.

If prostate cancer is caught quickly enough it can be cured. The faster you get to your doctor and to a Urologist, the better your chances of survival.

New drug trials for prostate cancer are underway thanks to the discover in 2002 of the gene responsible for the spread of prostate cancer. This gene is still being studied with the hope of producing new drugs that target this gene. For now, Chemotherapy is the current form of treatment.

Dietary habits are the common thread in most of the literature about prostate cancer.

1. Dairy products. Dairy products should be eliminated from the diet. Soy milk should be used instead. Research has shown that just a few glasses of soy milk a day can have dramatic results.

2. Eat tomatoes. Tomatoes contain the cancer fighting compound lyocopene. One tomato will give you 4 mg of lycopene a day. One 8-ounce glass of tomato juice will give you 25 mg of lycopene a day.

3. Eat fruits and vegetables. Pumpkins, beans, and spinach are also good.

4. Garlic is also recommended because it has allicin which decreases the spread of cancer cells.

5. Selenium which is found in garlic, tomatoes, and broccoli has also been shown to be effective.

6. Cut back on salt and seasonings as these have been linked to cancer.

7. Finally, green tea is a popular choice as a beverage so drink at least 6 cups a day.

All in all there are plenty of reasons to be positive about controlling the risk of contracting prostate Cancer. A healthy diet as outlined above will help you lead a healthy long life.

Want to find out more about green tea? Go to green tea diet.

Posted under Tea

This post was written by Steve Zappa on October 17, 2009

Tags: , , ,

Shocking Green Tea Secrets Revealed

by Janet Lindsey

As an oasis is to the dessert, or a cool breeze to a hot summer night, so is green tea to cholesterol.

Millions of people suffer from high cholesterol due to years and years of having a bad diet. Green tea can reverse much of this damage and can actually lower cholesterol.

As western science continues to advance thanks to computers, we now know how triglycerides and LDL contribute to cholesterol. In this advanced age, it seems incredible that a centuries old beverage like green tea can be the source of so much exciting new research.

If green tea was just good at lowering cholesterol, that would be reason enough to drink it. But green tea also has anti-cancer ingredients! Now before you doubt, you need to know the latest research done by credible universities and organizations. At the University of Purdue, researchers found that green tea actually inhibits the growth of cancer cells in the body! At the University of Kansas, researchers found the link between the low levels of heart disease in Japan even though more than half of the population are smokers! It turns out most Japanese drink green tea and that green tea has a chemical called EGCG in it. Researchers found that EGCG helps prevent cancer. But perhaps the most telling study of all was done by the National Cancer Institute. In a medical journal, they reported the results of a study on esophageal cancer in China. Their conclusion was that green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by over fifty five percent!

The benefits of green tea go on with new research that suggests green tea may also lower high blood pressure. The problem with this research though is that they say you need to drink 5 to 10 cups of green tea a day to lower your blood pressure. That is too much tea drinking for most people.

For more that 4,000 years the Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since using it to treat everything from headaches to depression. So it is not just green tea and cholesterol or green tea and cancer; it is also green tea and depression!

Drinking tea also is reported to be helpful with rheumatoid arthritis, Cardiovascular disease, infection, and impaired immune function.

Scientists have determined that green teas healing properties come from catechin polyphenols like epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a proven anti-cancer compound. Polyphenols appear to limit and counter some of the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet as seen in the Japanese population.

There's more! It is not just green tea and cholesterol or cancer; it is also green tea and weight loss. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a report that found out that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine.

There are also studies being done on green tea and tooth decay. Green tea has bacteria killing compounds that help prevent tooth decay.

Why is it that it is green tea and cholesterol not oolong tea or black tea? As we all know there are 3 types of tea, green, oolong and black. All of these come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. But why green? Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized while black and oolong tea leaves are made from dried or fermented leaves, which causes loss of EGCG.

The Chinese have certainly contributed to our understanding of the health benefits of drinking green tea.

There is new research coming out all the time about the health benefits of drinking green tea.

About the Author:

Posted under Tea

This post was written by Stacy White on October 10, 2009

Tags: , , , , , , ,

golf training aid