Green Tea Products Available

Green tea is fast becoming one of the most popular forms of dietary supplement available on the market today. Since not everyone can sit down and have a relaxing cup of green tea on a daily basis, the health industry has developed a number of green tea products that can make getting your daily dose of green tea that much easier.

1 Green Tea Extract: If you're looking for a concentrated green tea product that offers you a more potent amount of the antioxidants and other nutrients that green tea is known for, you can't go wrong with green tea extract. It usually comes in a concentrated liquid form, and can be added to everything from drinks, to bread, to a relaxing bath. It is a very versatile green tea product, but some would consider the taste of it a little too strong, so be sure to dilute it with each use.

2 Green Tea Diet Pills: One of the most popular uses for a green tea product is that of a dietary aid. It has been shown in a number of medical studies that certain properties of green tea can aid the body in burning more calories, and therefore aid in weight loss. Since not everyone has the time or inclination to drink a cup of green tea during the day, green tea diet pills might be a great alternative.

3 Green Tea Gum: Occasionally you come across people who enjoy chewing gum, and wish to obtain the health benefits of green tea while doing something enjoyable. For these people, a great choice of a green tea product would be green tea gum. This product is usually found in the dietary aid aisle of the grocery store, or perhaps behind the counter at your local health food supplier. In addition, for those who don't really enjoy the taste of green tea, this green tea product is often infused with other flavors such as mint or even strawberry.

4 Green Tea Mints: Of course, for those out there that want the convenience of green tea gum, but enjoy a harder form of candy, there is an alternative tea product. Green tea mints offer a great way to slowly ingest the beneficial properties of green tea. Remember, these are but a few of the different types of green tea product available today. Be sure to ask your pharmacist for what he or she recommends, and don't be afraid to do a little bit of research on your own into these types of products. You'll be glad you did.

Types of Green Tea

There are basically four different types of tea:white tea, green tea, oolong tea, and black tea. All tea comes from the the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. Herbal tea, or tisane, is not considered a true tea, because it does not come from the Camellia sinensis leaves and is instead made from various herbs which can be loosely described as dried flowers, roots, stems, leaves, or berries of various plants.

As all tea comes from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, white tea, green tea, oolong tea, and black tea are different because they are processed differently.

White Tea

White tea is made from tea leaf buds. Because it is minimally processed, it may exhibit potent disease-fighting potential. There is little research on its health effects. It also tends to be the most expensive type of tea.

Green Tea

To make green tea, the leaves are picked and preserved (usually by steaming or baking) to keep them from undergoing the process of fermentation (or oxidation). It is this lack of oxidation that makes green tea good for you. The green tea leaves keep the rich polyphenols that give green tea its antioxidant properties.

Oolong and Black Tea

Oolong and black tea are picked and exposed to the air for a period of time. During this period, the leaves ferment ( oxidize ). Oolong tea is exposed to the sun and allowed to partially ferment while black tea is fermented completely.

The process of fermentation slightly changes the essential chemical makeup of tea. The longer the leaves are allowed to ferment ( oxidize ), they have less antioxidant capabilities as well as higher caffeine. Generally, green tea has one-half to one-third the caffeine of black tea.

Green Tea - Health Benefits

Green Tea is the well-known "wonder drug" known to give its drinkers a host of health benefits. Among the most widely held beliefs are the following:

Green Tea Benefit 1: Green Tea Lowers the Risk of Cancer.

Green TeaMany studies have shown that people who drink green tea have significantly lower risk of cancer. Green Tea polyphenols are potent antioxidants, especially in the brain. Some studies show that the polyphenols most prevalent in green tea, the catechins, are far more potent in suppressing free radicals than vitamins C or E.

The ability of green tea to prevent cancer is so well established that new studies are testing green tea as a potential cancer therapy. Green tea may be especially protective against lung cancer in former and current cigarette smokers.

Green tea has been shown to counteract both the initiation and promotion of carcinogenesis. Some studies have shown that green tea blocks the formation of certain tumors. If green tea's only benefit were to reduce the risk of cancer, it would be well worth taking as a beverage or supplement.


Green Tea Benefit 2: Green Tea Lowers Cholesterol and Thus, The Risk of Stroke and Heart Diseases.

Green Tea has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol and serum triglyceride levels. The potent antioxidant effects of green tea inhibit the oxidation of LDL cholesterol in the arteries. It plays a major contributory role in the formation of atherosclerosis.

The formation of blood clots, also known as thrombosis, is the leading cause of heart attack and stroke. Green Tea has been proven to exhibit abnormal blood clot formation as effectively as aspirin. When looking at coagulation risk factors in the blood, green tea specifically inhibits platelet aggregation and adhesion via effects that differ from those of aspirin.



Green Tea Benefit 3: Green Tea Lowers Blood Pressure.

Green Tea blocks the effects of angiotension-converting enzyme (ACE), an enzyme secreted by the kidneys, which is a significant cause of hypertension. By blocking the effects of ACE, blood pressure is reduced significantly, and with it, the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Published studies have shown lowered blood pressure in animals and humans that are given green tea extracts. If you will be using green tea to treat hypertension, do so only under the supervision of a competent medical professional. Regular testing of your blood pressure is mandatory.



Green Tea Benefit 4: Green Tea Prevents Tooth Decay.

The formation of dental plaque, bacterial colonies that form on tooth surfaces causing tooth decay, has been shown to be inhibited by catechins. Tea has been shown to inhibit Streptococcus mutans, a major bacteria involved with decay. A reduction of the bacterial cell membrane fluidity, induced by the catechins, results in the antiplaque activity. Tea also has been shown to have a positive effect in fighting gum disease.


Green Tea Benefit 5: Green Tea Inhibits Viruses.

Green tea has been known to lower blood sugar levels. It can also kill certain bacterias and is effective against staph. Green tea inhibits several viruses including viral hepatitis. Green tea, via catechins and theaflavins and its gallates, have shown antibacterial properties.

Others have shown that catechins effectively kills almost every kind of bacteria which causes food poisoning. It also inactivates the toxins that are produced by those bacteria. At the same time, it enhances the growth of beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract. There is evidence that green tea also inhibits the flu virus. It has been proven by lab studies that green tea extract protects against many common degenerative diseases.

Tea - Benefits

Much has been written and said about the amazing health benefits of tea. So much in fact, that it's often difficult to separate fact from fiction. What are the scientifically recognized benefits of tea? The following is a brief synopsis of the latest findings.

Aging
If you are the type to fret over the appearance of wrinkles, age spots and other signs of growing old, oolong tea may be the answer to your worries. In a recent experiment carried out jointly by researchers from the US, Taiwan and Japan, mice which were fed tea displayed fewer signs of aging than mice that were fed water. The Straits Times, Sept. 24, 01

Allergies
The wonder cup just got even more wonderful. Green tea, rich in antioxidant treasures that protect against heart disease and cancer, now shows promise as an allergy fighter. In laboratory tests, Japanese researchers have found that the antioxidants in green tea, block the biochemical process involved in producing an allergic response. Green tea may be useful against a wide range of sneeze-starting allergens, including pollen, pet dander, and dust. Prevention, April 2003

Arthritis
Green tea catechins are chondroprotective and consumption of green tea may be prophylactic for arthritis and may benefit the arthritis patient by reducing inflammation and slowing cartilage breakdown. The Journal of Nutrition, Mar 2002

Green tea may be useful in controlling inflammation from injury or diseases such as arthritis. Boston Globe, April 26, 99

Bone Strength
Tea flavonoids may be bone builders. A report in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine looked at about 500 Chinese men and women who regularly drank black, green, or oolong tea for more than 10 years. Compared with nonhabitual tea drinkers, tea regulars had higher bone mineral densities, even after exercise and calcium-which strengthen bones-were taken into account. U.S. News & World Report, May 20, 2002

Cancer
"Tea is one of the single best cancer fighters you can put in your body," according to Mitchell Gaynor, MD, director of medical oncology at the world-renowned Strong Cancer Prevention Center in New York City and co-author of Dr. Gaynor's Cancer Prevention Program. The latest tea discovery? Strong evidence that both green and black tea can fight cancer-at least in the test tube-though green tea holds a slight edge. In a new study, both teas kept healthy cells from turning malignant after exposure to cancer-causing compounds. Prevention, May 2000

People who drink about 4 cups of green tea a day seem to get less cancer. Now we may know why. In recent test-tube studies, a compound called EGCG, a powerful antioxidant in tea, inhibited an enzyme that cancer cells need in order to grow. The cancer cells that couldn't grow big enough to divide self-destructed. It would take about 4 cups of green tea a day to get the blood levels of EGCG that inhibited cancer in the study. Black tea also contains EGCG, but at much lower concentrations. Prevention, Aug 1999

Cholesterol
Tea can lower 'bad' cholesterol levels. Researchers at the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland, asked test subjects to eat low-fat, low-calorie prepared meals and drink five cups of caffeinated tea or caffeinated and non-caffeinated placebos that mimicked the look of tea. Levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol dropped 10 percent among the test subjects who drank tea. Vegetarian Times, Jan 2003

Heart Disease
Drinking black tea may lower the risk of heart disease because it prevents blood from clumping and forming clots. In a recent study, researchers found that while drinking black tea, the participants had lower levels of the blood protein associated with coagulation. Better Nutrition, Jan 2002

Better to be deprived of food for three days than tea for one,Ó says a Chinese proverb. Research is showing it may just be true. Dr. Kenneth Mukamal of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center reported that out of 1,900 heart-attack patients, those who drank two or more cups a day reduced their risks of dying over the next 3.8 years by 44 percent. Newsweek, May 20, 2002

Weight Loss
Trying to lose weight? Reach for a cup of green tea instead of a diet beverage. Compared to the placebo and caffeine, green tea extract consumption produced a significant 4% increase in 24-hour energy expenditure. If you consume 2,000 calories per day and don't gain or lose weight (you're in energy balance), an increase of 4% would translate roughly into an 80-calorie daily difference. Over a year, this could result in 89 pounds of weight loss. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Nov 1999

Recent evidence shows that in the battle of fat loss, green tea may be superior to plain caffeine. According to a new study, green tea appears to accelerate calorie burning - including fat calories. Researchers suggest compounds in green tea called flavonoids may change how the body uses a hormone called norepinephrine, which then speeds the rate calories are burned. Joe Weider's Muscle & Fitness, April 2000

Green Tea - Health Benefits

The scientists have found out that the The antioxidants in the tea as a diet aid. For a number of years that have past, scientists have found out that the tea antioxidant content is high. The antioxidants in the ability and healing powers of the green tea diet aid and used it for that purpose. For a number of years that have past, scientists have found out that the tea antioxidant content is high.

The antioxidants in the ability and healing powers of the green tea diet aid and used it for that purpose. For a number of years that have past, scientists have found out that the tea antioxidant content is high. The antioxidants in the ability and healing powers of the green tea diet aid and used it for that purpose. They also saw the tea antioxidant content is high.

The Chinese believed greatly in the ability and healing powers of the green tea to treat every ailment from depression to headaches. For a number of years that have past, scientists have found out that the tea as a medicinal and herbal beverage for over 4,000 years. China has used green tea diet aid and used it for that purpose.

Green tea contains compounds which seem to increase the metabolic rates in This is what makes the tea ideal to use as a diet aid. Green tea contains compounds which seem to increase the metabolic rates in the body and consequently suppressing the appetite. This is what makes the tea ideal to use as a diet aid. Abdul Dullo, the lead scientist gave a press release where he said that diet aid that helps to promote theremogenesis, which takes place in the body and consequently suppressing the appetite.

Dr. Green tea contains compounds which seem to increase the metabolic rates in the body. This is what makes the tea ideal to use as a diet aid. Green tea contains compounds which seem to increase the metabolic rates in the body and consequently suppressing the appetite. When energy expenditure is increased or energy intake is reduced this can lead to diet aid.

Abdul Dullo, the lead scientist gave a press release where he said that diet aid and weight loss can only be achieved in two ways. Dr. 'American Journal of Clinical Nutrition' published a research, which highlighted green tea diet aid that helps to promote theremogenesis, which takes place in the body.

They tried to find the level of efficiency in the subject's body to utilize fats, protein and carbohydrates to track their respiration quotient. Energy expenditure is used to determine quantity of calories burnt within twenty four hours. The researchers determined their participant energy expenditure by measuring them three times everyday. They provided their subjects with a western diet contained 40% fat, 13% protein and 47% carbohydrates.

They assumed the main component, which increases the chances of green tea being a powerful diet aid could be caffeine. Dullo and the entire team to carry out the study. Ten men, young and healthy from Geneva University were experimental subjects used by Dr.

They also realized that the men who consumed green tea increases the The scientists interpreted from their findings that what makes the green tea diet aid on a regular basis had significantly increased their energy expenditure per every 24 hours by 4%. However, the metabolic rates for the men who did not consume green tea increases the amounts of fats burning since it reduces respiration quotient. They also realized that the men who consumed green tea diet increased only slightly and there was almost no visible reduction in respiration quotient. However, the metabolic rates for the men who did not consume green tea to be a powerful diet aid on a regular basis had significantly increased their energy expenditure per every 24 hours by 4%.

They also realized that the men who consumed green tea increases the amounts of fats burning since it reduces respiration quotient. However, the metabolic rates for the men who did not consume green tea diet aid on a regular basis had significantly increased their energy expenditure per every 24 hours by 4%. They interpreted the collected data and discovered that the men who consumed green tea increases the amounts of fats burning since it reduces respiration quotient.

Green Tea Benefits

EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of abnormal blood clots which is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.

Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the "French Paradox." For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans.In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas determined that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers. The answer was found to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet.

Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. What sets green tea apart is the way it is processed. Green, oolong, and black teas all come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. Why don't other Chinese teas have similar health-giving properties? By contrast, black and oolong tea leaves are made from fermented leaves, which results in the EGCG being converted into other compounds that are not nearly as effective in preventing and fighting various diseases.

Green Tea - Anti Cancer Properties

An article in New Scientist magazine mentions that numerous studies suggest that green tea protects against a range of cancers, including lung, prostate and breast cancer. The reason cited is the antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), according to Hirofumi Tachibana's team at Kyushu University in Japan. Their research showed that growth of human lung cancer cells with a cell receptor called 67 LR is slowed significantly after drinking just two or three cups of green tea, which contains EGCG. The research also showed that 67 LR is involved in the propagation of prion diseases such as human Creutzfeldt-Jakob (related to mad cow disease in animals). This is not direct evidence of tea's effect on prion diseases, but a hint that EGCG's effect on 67 LR is an interesting lead in the search for treatments.

According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, in laboratory studies using animals, catechins inactivated oxidants before cell damage occurred, reduced the number and size of tumors, and inhibited the growth of cancer cells.[citation needed]

White tea has been claimed to be even more effective, based upon preliminary work by Santana-Rios et al.

Another study from the Life Science journal Carcinogenesis demonstrated that green tea, in combination with tamoxifen, is effective in suppressing breast cancer growth in vitro human breast cancer tumors and in vivo animal experiments in mice.

The anticarcinogenic effect of green tea on gastric cancer was refuted by a large-scale, population-based, prospective cohort study in Japan that involved more than 26,000 residents. Several case control studies suggest an inverse relation between green tea consumption and gastric cancer. Further evaluation is needed to assess the role of green tea and gastric cancer reduction.

Topical applications of green tea extracts (EGCG) have protective effects on UVA- and UVB-induced skin damage

Green Tea

Green tea originates from China and has become more widespread in the West, where black tea is a type of tea made solely with the leaves of , Camellia sinensis that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea is a type of tea made solely with the leaves of , Camellia sinensis that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea originates from China and has become more widespread in the West, where black tea is a type of tea made solely with the leaves of , Camellia sinensis that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing.

These varieties can differ substantially due to variable growing conditions, processing and harvesting time. Many varieties of green tea have been created in countries where it is grown. Green tea is traditionally consumed. Green tea originates from China and has become more widespread in the West, where black tea is a type of tea made solely with the leaves of , Camellia sinensis that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing.

Green tea has been subjected to many scientific and medical studies to determine the extent of its long-purported health benefits, with some evidence suggesting regular green tea has also been claimed useful for weight loss management. Over the last few decades green tea drinkers may have lower chances of heart disease and developing certain types of cancer.