Green tea has long been revered by the Chinese for its medicinal properties. Native of India, Ceylon and China, the plant has properties that have caught the attention of the medical community.
Although it is consumed in very large quantities in Asia, and worldwide, most people associate the consumption of tea with black tea, and that is indeed the kind that is most commonly consumed.
But the green type, which accounts for about 20% of global consumption, is a powerful antioxidant. It comes from a species of Camellia, a flowering plant more known for it beautiful late fall flowers than its leaves.
Green tea is made from unoxidized leaves, and is only minimally processed, therefore retaining both its antioxidant properties and its polyphenols.
Green tea has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for a score of uses, including digestion, heart function and even mental health. But what has caught the attention of the medical community was the fact that tea drinkers had a lower incidence of esophageal cancer, and type 2 diabetes.
Although not devoid of caffeine, green tea has only a fraction of coffee's levels, but it has in scores polyphenols, which are known to be both potent anti inflammatory and anti carcinogenic substances.
In fact, green tea is almost 20 to 45% polyphenols by weight.
Aside from esophageal, green tea has been shown to decrease tumor growth of other types. Another cancer on which green tea seems to have specific effect, is pancreatic cancer, especially in women. Other cancers that are positively impacted by green tea are breast, bladder, ovarian, colorectal, esophageal, lung prostate and stomach.
The mechanism by which the plyphenols are active against cancer is still unknown. The preventive amount is between 2 to 10 cups a day.
However, studies have detailed how green tea to be effective, must be freshly brewed, and not processed in bottle form or sugared or powdered, unless they are in pill form.
Green tea is also somewhat high in vitamin K content, so that people on anticoagulants should exercise caution when drinking green tea.
Source : MNT/ 12.2.13
No comments:
Post a Comment