Let's Get Healthy in 2010!

[StoneFinn]

Just wanting to share a bit for everyone looking for a healthy drink that is not "just" water-- but hydrates just as well as water does. Everyone who hasn't tried Green tea, might want to give it a go.

I am going to list a few of the benefits that have been proven, and then give some links as well.

This list if from HealthMad

• It is used to treat multiple sclerosis.
• It is used for treatment and prevention of cancer.
• It is used to stop Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
• It is used to raise the metabolism and increase fat oxidation.
• It reduces the risk of heart diseases and heart attacks by reducing the risk of trombosis.
• It reduces the risk of esophageal cancer.
• Drinking green tea inhibits the growth of certain cancer cells, reduces the level of cholesterol in blood, improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol.
• It is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular diseases
• It is used to treat impaired immune function. .
• Some researches show that, drinking green tea regularly may help prevent tooth decay by killing the bacteria which causes the dental plaque.

Diabetes:
Green tea has been used traditionally to control blood sugar in the body. Animal studies suggest that green tea may help prevent the development of type 1 diabetes and slow the progression once it has developed. People with type 1 diabetes produce little or no insulin, a hormone that converts glucose (sugar), starches, and other foods into energy needed for daily life. Green tea may help regulate glucose in the body.

A few small clinical studies have found that daily supplementation of the diet with green tea extract powder lowered the hemoglobin A1c level in individuals with borderline diabetes.

And the lists go on, including benefits for people with IBD or Crohn's disease.

I am NOT saying that green tea is a "cure-all", but putting the information out there, as well as the same question that I asked myself:

If I am given a choice of drinking something that is just as proven to be as GOOD for me or something that is proven to be VERY bad for me-- what am I going to choose?

Green tea has minimal caffeine: about 20-40mg of caffeine per 6-8oz cup.
compare that to these (both where you expect caffeine and where you don't):

2oz espresso-- 45-100mg
Brewed coffee 8oz -- 80-150mg
Black Tea-- 45mg
White tea-- 15mg
1oz Dark chocolate-- 20mg
Ben & Jerry's Coffee Fudge Frozen Yogurt (8 oz) -- 85 mg

and to quote from HERE: If you ate an entire 200 g block of chocolate, you'd consume about 550 mg of combined methylxathines (caffeine and other stimulants). A 30 g bar has between 20 to 60 mg caffeine


So now.. for some of the links:

University of Maryland Medical Center on Green Tea

Green Tea and Diabetes

A Site with 11 Benefits plus good further source sites

An AWESOME page with clinical study results for many of the benefits of Green Tea, including and surpassing the ones above.


... and for myself, I made my own decision. Plus-- I find it tastes better than just about any other alternative out there-- without sugar, nasty artificial sweeteners, chemicals, or anything else!

If I want to sweeten it, I use something like stevia (made from dried leaves, and I grow stevia plants in my own garden) or agave nectar

Cheers all!