Everybody has heard about the great benefits of green tea, but still we drink beer! Green tea has a lot of great benefits and contains a lot of medicinal and nutritional properties. These really deserve to be known because it can save your life one day!
For thousands of years, the Chinese have been drinking green tea and enjoying excellent health benefits. They even used to drink green tea for its medicinal properties, as the Chinese were able to avoid and even treat different kinds of illnesses. It is also linked to the long life that the Chinese have enjoyed and became renown for. They have the highest rate for people living over the age of a hundred. That should be enough proof! Although the Chinese have been drinking this kind of tea for centuries, it was only recently that green tea has been introduced and became popular throughout the planet. I have to through the blame on Coke on this one!
Scientists and nutritionists have found that this incredible drink does indeed have medicinal properties that can help prevent several types of illnesses including this age’s plague, cancer. In fact, there are even doctors who recommend green tea for any kind of illness and insist that drinking it regularly plays a great role in maintaining good health. What is it exactly that makes this magical drink such a miracle that it even perplexed health professionals from all over the world?
First, this tea contains high levels of antioxidants, which are called Polyphenols or Flavonoids. Why do we need antioxidants anyway? We need to understand that the body does millions of processes that are happening at all times. Even when you are asleep, the brain, cells, organs and every part of our body is active building and repairing. This magnificent building operation requires oxygen in order to be done properly. Somebody might ask, what’s wrong with Oxygen? The oxygen that we breathe isn’t hundred percent pure and clean and can contain a lot of oxidants like dust particles, smoke, pollutions, germs, viruses and all kind of harmful micro particles. These oxidants or commonly known as free radicals and are penetrating our system every single day. These free radicals are known to be one of the main stimuli in the growth of cancer cells.
So, in order to fight or reduce the effect of oxidants or free radicals, we will need to introduce antioxidants in our body, very powerful ones in the case of some people! And guess what, green tea has a lot of them. Although some other natural herbs and fruits do have antioxidants, you will see that green tea has a lot more. In fact, the antioxidants found on green tea are much higher than that found in grape juice and red wine.
Second, this amazing drink also contains vitamins, such as vitamin B6, which plays a vital role in the metabolism of the body. That’s why everybody drinks green tea to lose fat and weight. Additionally, vitamins B1 and B2, which are essential for releasing energy from food, which is actually good because it converts directly into energy that you can use in your daily exercises and your work. Another great thing about this tea is that it has key minerals such as magnesium, which is essential for bone growth and body development as well as potassium, which helps in keeping the heart pumping normally and maintain the body’s fluid levels. I thought only milk has such minerals and bone supporting nutrition!
Green tea has caffeine though just like coffee. You may put it as a “disadvantage” but compared to coffee and other teas, it is the best caffeine you can put into your body system! Let me explain, the caffeine that we get from coffee and regular teas has immediate effects on our nervous system. It can raise blood pressure and make our heart beats faster than normal due to its instant stimulating effects. Surprisingly, caffeine in green tea is more beneficial than the caffeine taken from coffee. It works through the body in a different mechanism. It alerts our system, but in a prolonged kind of and effect so we don’t experience sudden spikes in blood pressure, heart beat rate and nervousness. And again, it helps you lose that extra fat in your body, without the harmful caffeine effects!
To experience the utmost health benefits, green tea is preferably brewed rather than fermented. Fermentation is most likely used in black tea but never in green tea. There are basically three important reasons why brewing is used in green tea.
Reason # 1 – Brewing doesn’t eliminate the important nutrients, vitamins and components that comprise green tea. On the other hand, fermentation wastes a lot of the nutritional tea components leaving more and less an enjoyable beverage.
Reason # 2 – Brewing can bring out the best in Catechin and Theanin, the two elements that contribute to a lower level of caffeine in your green tea.
Reason # 3 – Brewing enhances taste and aroma. Indeed, brewing has a very enticing smell that can’t be found in fermented beverages.
Brewing green tea is easier contrary to what people might think. Here are the tips for the best brewed green tea:-
Tip 1 – The type of water Choosing what kind of water to use is a very important detail that you have to take note of. Ideally, manufacturers would prefer brewing green tea using soft mineral water or natural water. If you can’t afford purchasing bottled water daily, you can take into consideration tap water. If you’re planning to use European bottled water, don’t. It’s because this kind of water is considered hard water that is not suitable for brewing green tea.
Tip 2 – Chlorine free water Chlorine must not be mixed with the process. To remove it, just leave your water in your pot for a couple of hours before finally boiling it.
Tip 3 – The boiling process Depending on how much water you have put, it will be the time that you have to boil. Whenever the water starts to boil, take off the lid of the pot and let it boil continuously for a few more minutes.
Tip 4 – Temperature It is said that correct temperature of boiling water will vary on the kind of tea that you are about to use. This is the moment when the extraction of Polyphenols takes place. When you buy green tea, usually there will be there some instructions on the temperature to use.
Tip 5 – Steep Let your tea steep for about three to five minutes. With longer steeping time, the Polyphenol level increases while if steeping time takes only a couple of seconds, it will result in more caffeine content in the tea.
Tip 6 - Tea leaves Research shows that it is better to brew green tea leaves that are smaller because of the fast infusion. Choosing large leaves or ones that are tightly curved can have a longer infusion time.
Tip 7 - Teabags or loose leaves? It is more advisable to use loose green tea than green tea teabags. Loose green tea enables Polyphenols to freely float inside your cup of green tea instead of locking them inside teabags.
by YOUSEF JULAIDAN
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