The news supporting the health benefits of drinking green tea continues to amaze consumers. For everything from weight loss to cancer treatment to resolving sleep disorders, proof that green tea is good for body, mind and soul is growing.

Grown on the same bush (camellia sinensis) as familiar black teas, green teas are steamed to stop the fermentation process, allowing them to retain more of their color and natural antioxidants. Research at Rutgers University has confirmed that green tea has six times the antioxidant capability of fully fermented black teas, which seems to support what Eastern healers have known for centuries; green tea has extraordinary healing properties. Scientists around the world agree that drinking several cups of green tea each day can have a profound effect on your health.

The Original Ceylon Tea Company sells only 100% pure, high mountain-grown tea from Sri Lanka. These handpicked and processed tea leaves are a remarkable source of the antioxidants, flavonoids and amino acids that contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

Weight Loss
Based on continuing research, many scientists believe that caffeine in conjunction with EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate)—a highly active antioxidant in tea—may work together to increase fat oxidation.^Based on continuing research, many scientists believe that caffeine in conjunction with EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate)—a highly active antioxidant in tea—may work together to increase fat oxidation.

“Our data suggests that a component of tea other than caffeine might have promoted preferential use of fat as an energy source,” says Beverly Clevidence, a coauthor of the study and head of the Diet and Human Performance Laboratory (DHPL), one of seven laboratories that make up the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center (BHNRC), Beltsville, Maryland. “But the information is tentative, and we need more studies to confirm it,” she adds.

It is universally accepted that caffeinated tea raises metabolic rate because caffeine is a stimulant. “The interesting part of our study, which agreed with findings from a similar study in England, was that when you drink tea you turn on the fat-burning spigot a little bit more than when you drink caffeinated water,” says Physiologist William Rumpler, also of the DHPL.

Cancer Treatment
Green tea is a rich source of antioxidants, including EGCG, which new research shows binds to a protein found on cancer tumor cells and dramatically slows their growth.

According to a study published in the April 2004 issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, researchers identified a potential target for the anti-tumor action of EGCG on human lung cancer cells that inhibited cancer cells’ growth. By learning more about this target, researcher may be able to develop new treatments that maximize green tea’s cancer-fighting potential.

Researchers say these results further the understanding of how antioxidants interact with cancer cells and may one day lead to more effective cancer therapies that use green tea as a dietary cancer treatment.

Sleep
The health benefits of green tea dovetail into sleep as researchers in Japan find an amino acid located in green tea could improve slumber in young men, according to a study done by said the study’s author, Dr Shuichiro Shirakawa, a professor at The National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Tokyo.

A recent study carried out by the NIMH, is the first human study to show that L-theanine (an amino acid found in green tea), can enhance the quality of actual sleep experienced by young subjects. The research built on previous human studies that suggested L-theanine supplementation could foster ‘a relaxed state.’

The test results indicated that all subjects reported a significant absence of feeling exhausted and a reduced need for sleep when given the L-theanine, compared to the placebo.

(By MoneyPlans.net, 2005)
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