7 Reasons to Drink Green Tea by Real Age
The steady stream of good news about green tea is getting so
hard to ignore that even java junkies are beginning to sip mugs of
the deceptively delicate brew. You'd think the daily dose of
disease-fighting, inflammation-squelching antioxidants - long
linked with heart protection - would be enough incentive, but wait,
there's more! Lots more.
CUT YOUR CANCER RISK Several polyphenols - the potent
antioxidants green tea's famous for - seem to help keep cancer
cells from gaining a foothold in the body, by discouraging their
growth and then squelching the creation of new blood vessels that
tumors need to thrive. Study after study has found that people who
regularly drink green tea reduce their risk of breast, stomach,
esophagus, colon, and/or prostate cancer.
SOOTHE YOUR SKIN Got a cut, scrape, or bite, and a little
leftover green tea? Soak a cotton pad in it. The tea is a natural
antiseptic that relieves itching and swelling. Try it on inflamed
breakouts and blemishes, sunburns, even puffy eyelids. And that's
not all. In the lab, green tea helps block sun-triggered skin
cancer, whether you drink it or apply it directly to the skin -
which is why you're seeing green tea in more and more sunscreens
and moisturizers.
STEADY YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE Having healthy blood pressure -
meaning below 120/80 - is one thing. Keeping it that way is quite
another. But people who sip just half a cup a day are almost 50
percent less likely to wind up with hypertension than non-drinkers.
Credit goes to the polyphenols again (especially one known as
ECGC). They help keep blood vessels from contracting and raising
blood pressure.
PROTECT YOUR MEMORY, OR YOUR MOM'S Green tea may also keep the
brain from turning fuzzy. Getting-up-there adults who drink at
least two cups a day are half as likely to develop cognitive
problems as those who drink less. Why? It appears that the tea's
big dose of antioxidants fights the free-radical damage to brain
nerves seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
STAY YOUNG The younger and healthier your arteries are, the
younger and healthier you are. So fight plaque build-up in your
blood vessels, which ups the risk of heart disease and stroke, adds
years to your biological age (or RealAge), and saps your energy
too. How much green tea does this vital job take? About 10 ounces a
day, which also deters your body from absorbing artery-clogging fat
and cholesterol.
LOSE WEIGHT Oh yeah, one more thing. Turns out that green tea
speeds up your body's calorie-burning process. In the
every-little-bit-counts department, this is good news!
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