Go green with your daily cuppa

Not only is anti aging green tea an amazing superfood for your overall health – it’s also a natural active ingredient in anti aging skin care.

Some of the health benefits of green tea include: protection from cancer, heart disease and dementia, increased weight loss and greater physical stamina.

And it isn’t just myth – these findings are backed up by recent clinical research.  If you are looking for anti aging tea – green tea is the best by far.

Green tea is the least processed and most nutrient rich tea there is. In fact – as far as overall health as part of a good anti aging diet – it’s right up there.  

Why drink green tea?

You may already drink gallons of tea every day and that’s all well and good – but if you want to do yourself a favor consider switching a cup or two of your normal brew for a cup of green.

Even though all tea comes from the same basic plant – what matters is the way the tea is processed – green tea retains more of the good things that give it the edge as far as health benefits are concerned.

Green tea is naturally high in polyphenols – plant derived chemicals which offer antioxidant protection.  The polyphenols in green tea are called catechins and the most important of these is EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) which gives green tea its superfood status.

There has been an enormous amount of attention focused on the catechins in green tea because of their antioxidant power.   EGCG has been shown to have 3 times the potency as an antioxidant than either vitamin E or vitamin C.

Not surprisingly – the anti aging and health advantages of green tea have been the subject of much research.  Recent studies have shown that green tea:

• Lowers blood pressure – 2 cups a day gives a 64% reduction in risk
• Prevents the spread of prostate cancer
• Protects against all forms of cancer including lung cancer
• Enhances protection from sun damage
• Increases survival rates for ovarian cancer
• Raises metabolism and aids weight loss

The health benefits of green tea are so obvious and so wide ranging that it’s surprising it isn’t compulsory.

How much green tea should you drink?

The benefits of drinking green tea kick in from the first cup and – despite what may be posted on the internet – drinking a lot of green tea will not do you any harm. Caffeine levels of green tea can be a concern if you drink a lot but there are decaffinated green teas out there if you prefer.

Even better – go for matcha green tea which has naturally high levels of a powerful amino acid L-theanine to offset the caffeine kick.

Studies in Japan showed that people got most benefit from drinking around 5 cups of green tea a day. This is based on a typical Japanese cup which is much smaller compared to the average American or British cuppa. Based on a standard US cup size then 2 cups of green tea a day would equate 4-5 Japanese cups and be a good daily intake.

How to avoid bitter tasting green tea

Many people find that they have to get used to the taste of green tea – it isn’t something they like right off. I find the best tasting green tea drink is a blend of morroccan mint leaves and a quality green tea – refreshing whether taken as iced tea in the summer or a hot drink in the winter.

If you want to drink your green tea straight and you don’t want it bitter then you need to take care how you make it. The bitter taste you get with green tea often comes from bad quality tea not brewed properly. The best green tea should taste fresh and grassy.

Make sure you buy the best quality loose tea or tea bags you can find. Poor quality green tea bags – apart from tasting awful – won’t deliver the level of antioxidants you want for an anti aging boost. Many low quality green tea bags use the worst end products of tea production known as “dust” in the jargon of tea growers.

When you brew green tea don’t use boiling water – leave it off the boil for a minute or two. Boiling water scalds the tea and gives you the bitter tasting green tea that many people dislike.

Make sure you leave the tea for only a short while – no longer than a minute and a half or two minutes maximum or you’ll get a bitter tea.

Of course you can add sugar – or honey – if you prefer but try to keep it to a little only. Sugar damage or glycation is a cause of inflammation in the body which is a significant cause of accelerated aging and ill health.

Does green tea help you lose weight?

Our bodies store fat through the action of enzymes. Various studies have suggested that the compounds in green tea promote fat loss by stopping these enzymes working and increasing the metabolism of fat into energy.

One human study in Japan in January 2005 confirmed that green tea reduces not only body fat but also brings down levels of bad cholesterol at the same time. The results of research caused a little hysteria around green tea as a weight loss aid and it has to be said that many of the claims are overstated.

One thing that was forgotten in all the hype was the need to watch calorie intake as well. The only thing that makes any of us lose weight is taking in less calories than we use up in energy over time.

Drinking green tea definitely appears to help in that it can increase your natural metabolism which does decrease with age – but drinking green tea alone (without any dietary or lifestyle changes) is unlikely to have a dramatic impact on your weight.

Combined with sensible nutrition and an active lifestyle then green tea – especially matcha – is an excellent natural diet drink choice.

Buy quality green tea extracts

If you really don’t like the taste of natural green tea – then go for a high quality green tea extract.

The most important word there is “quality” – there is a huge range of green tea extracts on the market and many of them won’t offer you the anti aging and weight loss benefits you want. There is no official recommendation but a standard dosage of green tea extract would give you around 100 to 150 mg a day.

What matters is that you check the small print on the bottle. Your green tea extract has to contain 80% total polyphenols and 50% epigallocatechin gallate – these are the things that deliver all the anti aging benefits. If you can’t find this on the bottle don’t buy it – you are probably wasting your money.

So choose your green tea or green tea extract carefully from a good supplier. That way you can be confident you’ve chosen one of the best natural superfoods there is for anti aging health and beauty.