Did you know that one of the healthiest foods and drinks you can consume is green tea?!
I’ve grown up drinking plenty of green tea as my mum is Japanese. I used to come back from school rugby matches and would have an iced matcha latte.
I was having it even before east London hipsters were drinking it, or social media existed.
Some may argue what was the point of having it if the internet didn’t know.
Below are the health benefits of green tea and some of them are astounding.
Lowers Risk of Cancer
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death as is caused by uncontrolled growth of cells.
Oxidative damage can lead to chronic inflammation, which can lead to chronic diseases, including cancers.
Antioxidants can protect against oxidative damage.
Compounds in green tea especially epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), natural antioxidants can reduce the formation of free radicals protecting cells from damage.
Green tea consumption has been found to reduce your risk of developing colorectal cancer by 42% (study).
Drinking green tea has also been found to reduce men’s risk of developing advanced prostate cancer (study).
Observational studies found that women who drank the largest quantity green tea had an approximately 20-30% lower risk of developing breast cancer. This being one of the biggest killers in women (study).
Protects against Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease and is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly.
Several studies show that compounds in green tea have many protective effects on neurons in animal studies, possibly lowering your risk of dementia (study).
Prevents Type 2 diabetes
One in 10 people in the UK over 40 have type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is when you have poor insulin sensitivity to chronically elevated blood glucose.
Studies have shown green tea may improve insulin sensitivity leading to lower blood glucose levels (study).
One study in Japan found that the group that drank the most had a 42% reduced risk of type 2 diabetes (study).
Protects against Heart Disease
Cardiovascular disease, which includes heart attacks and strokes are the leading cause of death worldwide.
Studies show that Green tea consumption improves total cholesterol and reduces LDL (bad) cholesterol reducing your risk of heart disease (Study).
Antioxidants in green tea protects the LDL particles from oxidation, which is part of the pathway that leads to cardiovascular disease (Study).
These pathways lead to a 31% lower risk of dying from heart disease for green tea drinkers. (Study).
Conclusion
Consumption of green tea leads to reduced risk of prostate, breast, and colorectal cancer.
Protects your brain from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s
Regular green tea consumption reduces risk of type 2 diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity, controlling blood sugar.
It reduces your risk of the world’s leading killer heart disease.
Drinking Green tea is a no brainer. “pun intended” I have a teaspoon of matcha green tea on my blueberries every morning. Both are super foods full of antioxidants
My favourite brand is clear spring – click here for Amazon link.
