Reduce Stress, Increase Antioxidants, Lose Weight
I’M WRITING this for myself as much as for you, for I need to keep reminding myself of the many marvels of green tea. Yes, green tea, not coffee. (Yes, Joe, listen up – less coffee, more tea.)
Now, to be fair, I’m “only” drinking a cup of joe a day, and then green tea thereafter. And I often quit coffee altogether for a month or so just to prove to myself that it doesn’t “own” me. But that constant voice lodged in the back of my mind asks why, if I’m so convinced of green tea’s superiority, do I continue to drink java?
Well, I do like the taste of coffee… that’s one reason. And it does seem to be heartier than tea… that’s another reason. Oh, what about that buzz… even one cup offers that in greater measure than tea.
So, there are reasons that I, and probably you, maintain my coffee habit. (Oh, I cringe at that word, “habit”.) Unfortunately, there are also reasons to give it up – or at least substitute green tea for most of our coffee cups.
One reason is cortisol, a hormone released by the body in response to stress. Cortisol is supposed to help you fight or give you flight. If you do neither, it stays in the body, deleteriously affecting insulin production, immune system function and learning, among a host of other not-so-nice stuff.
And guess what? Cortisol levels ramp up with just one cup of caffeinated coffee for more than eight hours!
Which gets me back to the subject of this post – Green Tea; in fact, the nine compelling reasons to drink it daily.
I take these nine reasons from Michelle Schoffro Cook, posted here. I’ll summarize them and you can click over for the full enchilada.
The Nine Reasons to Drink Green Tea
1. Green tea is a superb fat fighter. Its active ingredient, EGCG, increases the rate at which fat is burned in your body. (Read this post about the thermogenic effect!)
2. It targets belly fat. Research at Tufts University indicates that EGCG in green tea, like other catechins, activate fat-burning genes in the abdomen to speed weight loss by 77 percent.
3. Green tea keeps energy stable by balancing blood sugar levels.
4. Research shows it may be helpful against lung cancer..
5. Green tea may halt colorectal cancer.
6. In research, it appears to cause prostate cancer cells to commit suicide.
7. Green tea may prevent skin damage and wrinkling. EGCG appears to be 200 times more powerful than vitamin E at destroying skin-damaging free radicals.
8. It contains a potent antioxidant that kills free radicals. Free radicals are increasingly linked to many serious chronic illnesses like arthritis, diabetes, and cancer. (More about free radical inhibitors – antioxidants — here.)
9. Green tea tastes good.
Well, that’s the story. I recommend you try drinking green tea, perhaps gradually substituting it for coffee till the day comes that you’re liberated. (Me too!)
Yup.
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Related posts:
- Drink Your Way to Health and Weight Loss
- Will Your Belly Fat Cause Cancer?
- The Surprising Reasons Your Kids Should Care About Your Genetics (It’s Not What You Think)
Published on June 12, 2010