Ring in the New Year with Tea: Help to Lose Weight and Boost Immune System and Heart Health by Tea Council of the USA
January is National Hot Tea Month
NEW YORK, Dec. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Perhaps it's no coincidence
that January is National Hot Tea Month, a time when many people
resolve to lose weight in the New Year. Tea, which studies suggest
may be associated with decreased risk of heart disease and cancer,
may also help in the battle against the bulge. A study published in
the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that substances
in tea may promote weight loss by increasing the amount of energy
spent by the body. The researchers theorize that green tea, which
has thermogenic properties that promote fat oxidation as a result
of the catechins contained in tea, may work together with other
chemicals to increase weight loss. This is potentially good news
for the more than half of Americans who are either overweight or
obese and want to begin the New Year by losing weight. In the
study, healthy young men (average age: 25) ate a typical Western
diet for six weeks and took either two green tea extracts (the
equivalent of one cup of green tea) plus 50 milligrams of caffeine;
50 milligrams of caffeine only; or a placebo, with each of three
meals a day. Those men taking the green tea extracts, equivalent to
a total of three cups of tea per day, experienced a significant
increase in the number of calories used in a 24-hour period --
resulting in more fats being metabolized by the body for energy --
than the men taking only the caffeine or the placebo. There was no
difference in overall calorie or fat burning calories in the
caffeine or placebo groups; only the tea group showed the weight
loss results. Another study, published in the International Journal
of Obesity, suggests that tea catechins may help resist the
development of obesity. Japanese researchers compared the body
weight and fat mass of mice that were fed a low-fat or high-fat
diet, with swimming or not and with or without tea catechins. Those
mice that were fed a high-fat diet with tea catechins but without
exercise showed reduced fat accumulation of 18 percent while
exercise alone showed reduced fat accumulation of 14 percent. Mice
that exercised and consumed the catechins showed reduced fat
accumulation of 33 percent. In addition to possibly helping our
bodies look better on the outside, tea may also help our bodies on
the inside. That's because black and green tea may help boost the
body's immune system, which provides the body's natural ability to
fight viral infections such as cold and flu. Research reported in
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that
people who drank 20 ounces of black tea per day (the equivalent of
approximately three cups) produced five times the amount of
germ-fighting cells as those who drank coffee. This suggests that
tea drinkers may have a better chance of fighting off an infection
than non-tea drinkers. "The evidence continues to mount associating
tea consumption with reduced risk of heart disease and cancer, and
healthy weight. Indeed, it appears that tea may offer a powerhouse
of disease-fighting potential," says Jenna Bell-Wilson, Ph.D., RD,
Assistant Professor of Clinical Allied Medicine, The Ohio State
University Medical Center. "And knowing that the resolutions we're
most likely to stick with beyond January are those that require
small changes in behavior, it only makes good sense to choose a
beverage like tea, which may give you this health boost, over
something else." A multitude of research suggests that drinking tea
should be included as part of a healthy diet and may contribute to
overall health. The most recent findings, published in the December
2005 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, showed that women
who consumed two or more cups of tea daily over a period of time
lowered their risk of ovarian cancer by 46% compared with women who
never or seldom consumed tea. The study found that each additional
cup of tea consumed per day was associated with an 18% lower risk
of ovarian cancer. Other research connecting tea with potential
health benefits include studies that suggest:
* Cardiovascular health benefits, including reduced risk of
heart attack, stroke and improved blood vessel function. * Reduced
risk of certain cancers, including colorectal and skin cancers *
Reduced levels of oxidative DNA damage and increases in antioxidant
levels in blood stream * Oral health benefits, as researchers
believe certain compounds in tea may inhibit bacteria that cause
bad breath and plaque, and the fluoride content in tea supports
healthy tooth enamel
"January's National Hot Tea Month can serve as a reminder to do
something healthy for ourselves, like brew a hot cup of tea, which
may provide a variety of health benefits, serve as a weight loss
aid and help to ward off persistent cold and flu germs," said Joe
Simrany, president of the Tea Council of the USA. "What more could
you ask for in a beverage."
Contact: Barbara King / Melissa McAllister Pollock
Communications, Inc. bking@pollock-pr.com /
mmcallister@pollock-pr.com (646) 277-8707 / (646) 277-8711
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