I can bet you that if I asked the average person walking down the street, “What comes to mind when I say the words ‘healthy tea’?” her answer would probably be, “Green tea.” It is well known, and it is a good basis for adding flavors, such as berry or citrus.
Green is a pretty popular word and color these days, so the mere thought that drinking something that sounds good for the environment can also translate into being good for human consumption is encouraging.
Green tea is best known as a Chinese tea, but it is quite popular in other Asian countries. It comes from the Camellia sinesis plant, a genus of flowering plant in the family Theaceae, which is native to Asia. It is made from the same plant as black tea, but black tea comes from the fermented leaves, which means the compounds would not be as beneficial. White tea, oolong, and pu-erh tea also come from this same species.
Of course, the most common use is as a beverage, but green tea is also used many other ways.
- Tea bags are used directly on the skin to soothe burns, most especially sunburns and to help prevent skin cancer from sun burns, reduce puffiness under the eyes, as a compress (headaches), and on gums after a tooth extraction
- Green tea candy is used to help prevent and fight against gum disease
- Green tea ointment is used on genital warts
Green tea is best known for its antioxidant, anticarcinogenic and anti-inflammatory qualities, but it can also be beneficial for weight loss, lowering and/or balancing cholesterol, improving cognitive function, and boosting a struggling immune system. The compound content found in the leaves is quite amazing and includes:
- Amino Acids
- Caffeine (and related compounds)
- Carbohydrates
- Carotenoids
- Dietary Minerals
- Enzymes
- Lipids
- Phytochemicals
- Polyphenols
- Sterols
- Tocopherols
- Vitamins
The list of benefits and uses for green tea seems endless. It includes several different categories of illnesses and diseases, consisting of:
- Cancer – breast, prostate, colon, gastric, lung, solid tumor cancers, and skin; even HPV and cervical cancer
- Crohn’s Disease
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Diabetes
- Diseases of the heart and blood vessels
- Dental Cavities
- Kidney Stones
- Low blood pressure
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Skin Damage
