The people of Okinawa, an island in Japan, have one of the longest life expectancies on the planet.  One major part of their diet is green tea.  Chinese rarely drink coffee and sip on tea thermoses from morning until night.  Tea has played an important role in many countries, from China, to India, to England. 

Antioxidants 
Antioxidants help fend off cell damage.  Cell damage is what eventually leads to diseases such as cancer.  Great tea, which is the least fermented of all teas, has some of the highest antioxidant levels followed by oolong, and black teas.  Research shows that tea helps protect healthy cells and ward off cancer growth.

Heart Benefits 

Research also shows that tea helps the heart.  A study conducted at Harvard Medical School showed evidence that those who drink tea have a less likely chance of dieing of a heart attack.  Perhaps tea helps us keep our arteries clean.  Flavanoids, an element in tea, is reported to have an anti-clogging effect on the blood. 

Weight Loss 
Another study was performed where rats were given a substance in green tea.  Those rats consumed 60% less than those not given the substance.  Doctors think that tea raises metabolic rates, and to meet new energy demands, the body burns more fat.   

Why Tea? 
Of course, this data is questionable since it confuses cause with correlation.  Perhaps those that drink tea have a healthier lifestyle in general.  Everybody needs a pick me up every once in a while, and those who drink tea turn to natural, sugar and dairy free source of caffeine. 

That isn’t to say we can’t learn from those who drink tea.  On a chilly day, sometimes nothing sounds better than a nice hot cup of something.  Why not make it tea?  There are no risks to drinking tea, and on the contrary, there seems to be many benefits.  Tea is a great drink to incorporate into a healthy lifestyle. 

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

Powered by AkoComment 2.0!