The Benefits of Green Tea

I’ve been hearing a lot about green tea lately and thought I’d check it out. I personally don’t care for the taste of tea (hot or cold), but I’ve decided to give green tea a try just because of the benefits. So far, from what I’ve read online, drinking green tea can lower your cholesterol, increase metabolism, enhance fat oxidation (fats are oxidized and provide us with the energy we fuel our bodies with), enhance your immune system, help prevent cancer, help your heart, it helps fight bacteria in the mouth and can also help fight cavities (as long as you aren’t adding a bunch of sugar to it). With all of these benefits, I figure it’s at least worth a try to like it. Besides, after reading my friend Ben’s blog today about soda, I think green tea would be a great alternative and has much better health benefits than soda does.

I’ve only tried 2 kinds of green tea so far. I went to Trader Joe’s earlier this week and purchased a couple of their pre-made teas. The first one was an unsweetened green and white tea with a hint of mint. I added some Splenda to it because I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it unsweetened. LOL! It didn’t matter; I still didn’t like it and took it back. The other tea I tried was a green tea already sweetened with Splenda. It was made by Arizona and called Diet Green Tea with Ginseng. I like this one much better, but I still have a bit of a hard time drinking a lot of it at a time because well, it still tastes like tea. LOL!

A few other kinds of green tea have been mentioned to me on my message board recently. I haven’t tried them yet, but plan to. Here are the comments I’ve gotten on my message board as far as favorite flavors go: Amanda said, “I'm a tea hater too, but the raspberry gardens green tea made by Celestial Seasonings is really good. With a little Splenda it just tastes sweet and fruity”. Slim Katie said, “I started drinking green tea a couple months ago, and I've noticed a pretty big impact as far as weight loss goes. I drink the Lipton green tea (hot tea bags). I was never a tea fan, but I really like this kind”. Tina said, “Try Lipton Diet mixed berry green tea (comes in a 12 pack of bottles) I was not a tea drinker before I tried this. It’s really good”. And Vanessa said, “I have NEVER liked Green Tea, but my mom suggested I start drinking it because she has noticed a HUGE boost in her metabolism, so I figured I'd give it a shot. She mentioned to me that they have flavored green teas now, so when I went to Super Walmart I bought Lipton Green Tea with Orange, Passionfruit & Jasmine, and I also bought Lipton Green Tea Mixed Berry. You get 20 bags per box. I brewed some with my iced tea maker and added a little liquid Stevia (natural sweetener) and it was YUMMY!!!! I also bought Celestial Seasonings Decaf Mint Green Tea. I would have to say by far this is my FAVORITE, although, they are all DELISH!”

I wasn’t sure how much green tea I need to drink per day to get the full benefits, so I also looked that up. It seems that depending on what disease you’re trying to avoid, the amount varies anywhere from 2 cups a day to 10 cups a day. It was rather confusing. Most of the websites I looked at recommended 4 cups a day. I did read an article on WebMd that said a Japanese study showed people who drink at least a pint of green tea each day have a lower risk of death from heart disease. I guess it’s up to you as to how much you drink. Right now I’ll probably just try to drink 3-4 glasses and see how it goes.

Should you rely solely on drinking green tea to lose weight? No. While it does have its benefits, I wouldn’t run right out and start living on the stuff. You’re still going to need to diet and exercise. Green tea will only boost your metabolism by 4-5%. Here’s a clip from an article I read at fatchicks.com that I found interesting… “How much weight can you theoretically lose? Let's say your body needs 2,000 calories to maintain your weight. If drinking 4 cups of green tea can cause a 4% increase in calories burned, then you could burn 80 extra calories per day. This amounts to around 2,400 calories per month. Since you must burn 3,500 calories to lose one pound of fat, it would take almost a year to lose 8 pounds!”

Caffeine is found in most green teas. If you’re worried about caffeine, according to Lipton, Green tea has 20mg of caffeine, Black tea has 55 mg of caffeine, and a cup of black coffee has 100mg of caffeine.

This is getting kind of long for a blog. LOL! There really is a lot more info about green tea, but for now, I think I’ll just leave you with this…

How to Brew a Cup of Green Tea

Producing the perfect cup of green tea is a tricky process. If not handled properly, those same polyphenols (anti-oxidants) that provide health benefits can ruin the flavor, making the tea taste "gassy." It's particularly important not to over brew. While it's best to follow the manufacturer's instructions for each variety of green tea, here are some general instructions:

• Use one tea bag, or 2 - 4 grams of tea,* per cup.
• Fill a kettle with cold water and bring to a boil.
• After unplugging the kettle, allow it to stand for up to 3 minutes.
• Pour the heated water over the tea bag or tea, and allow it to steep for up to 3 minutes. If using a tea bag, remove the bag.
• Allow the tea to cool for three more minutes.

*One to two teaspoons, depending on the variety of green tea you are brewing.

If you want to read more about green tea and its benefits for weight loss, I came across a book while I was doing my search that sounds like it’s worth a read. It’s called, “Lose Weight with Green Tea” by Patricia Rouner. Even though the price is good for this, If you decide to buy it, I'd check Ebay or the library for it too.

By the way, somehow I managed to maintain this morning when I went to weigh in. My scale said I was up 2 pounds. I'm not complaining, but I hope the scale doesn't play catch up next week. Enjoy your tea!