Sunday, August 23, 2009

Gourmet tea

Good health, fitness and weight loss? Green tea could be the answer you are looking for. For thousands of years it has been known to promote good health in nearly every possible way.

Green Tea for Good Health?

Author: Empl Alexwhite

Good health, fitness and weight loss? Green tea could be the answer you are looking for. For thousands of years it has been known to promote good health in nearly every possible way. Research has found time and again that it can lower cholesterol, reduce heart disease, fight cancer, boost immunity and give you great skin!

How is this possible you might ask? Well, research has shown that green tea burns more calories and is a powerful anti-oxidant. That it not only inhibits the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.

More importantly green tea is known to calm the mind. What could such a mind achieve? Anything! Think about it. We could set our minds on what we want to do and achieve it. Even if the day is hectic, one doesn’t feel it. You have the energy to finish all the office work, ordinary chores and go to the gym or for a long walk. A combination of the right food, right exercise and the right mind-set can achieve wonders. Any thing that one does is with the right focus and the results speak for themselves. The Zen monks call it mindfulness.

According to various researchers, L-theanine is an amino acid found in tea plants that is responsible for the unique flavor of green tea and said to promote relaxation and modify the stimulating effects of the caffeine present in green tea.. Some Japanese researchers have even found that theanine is a caffeine antagonist, meaning that it offsets the "hyper" effect of caffeine. No wonder people say lets have a soothing cup of tea and not coffee!

Green teas have 10 times the amount of antioxidants found in fruits and veggies, by one estimate. And is a very rich source of a specific kind of antioxidant called flavonoids. Antioxidants that protect cells from free radicals and the damage that can lead to blood clot formation, atherosclerosis, and cancer, says research. Green tea extract seemed to make the cancer cells behave unusually in a study involving bladder cancer cells - they had a hard time multiplying.

The journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals how substances found in tea may help the body's immune system to fight off infection. Another report shows how substances in green tea may be linked to skin-cell rejuvenation.

Chemicals—known as alkylamines—which are commonly present in tea (as well as wine, apples, mushrooms, and other sources), are also present in some bacteria, cancerous cells, parasites, fungi, and other disease-causing agents. Drinking tea could prime the body's immune system against these agents, by teaching disease-fighter immune cells to recognize and remember alkylamines.

A study in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, reveals that other chemicals found in tea are able to reactivate dying skin cells and could one day possibly be applied not only to anti-aging remedies but also to wound healing and the treatment of skin conditions. In fact some anti-aging cosmetics already contain tea extracts. So given the research and evidence a few cups of green tea could keep you refreshed through the day.

The Chinese reputedly discovered tea several thousand years ago and felt that it did them a world of good. And maybe you could feel the same too. What could be better than sip a cup of green tea, calm the mind, get everything in the day done, and still have energy for the gym or a refreshing walk? A passerby might just say ‘hey you are really glowing today!’

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Alex Whites - Being a Tea Enthusiast i have tasted almost an endless number of tea infusions till date. i drink tea, research tea varieties, write about tea and simply love everything about tea. Talbott Tea has been my most recent tea obsession, every tea infusion of theirs is a true ..

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