9 Reasons to Drink Green Tea (and limit coffee)

Among the many, here are 9 reasons to drink green tea, reducing stress, increasing antioxidants and losing weight among them.
9 reasons to drink green tea

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) keep up 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 quickly power you up to either fight or give flight (run) when threatened. If you do neither, it stays in the body, negatively affecting  insulin production, immune system function and learning, among a host of other not-so-nice stuff.

And guess what?  Cortisol levels can ramp up with just one cup of caffeinated coffee for more than eight hours!  This is particularly true for those of us who don’t metabolize coffee very well.

Which gets me back to the subject of this post – Green Tea; in fact, the nine compelling reasons to drink it daily.

I took these nine reasons from Michelle Schoffro Cook, posted here. I’ll summarize them and you can click over for the full enchilada.

 

The 9 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 has 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!)

 

UPDATE: About a year ago, I started drinking matcha and jiaogulan tea. MatchaDNA Organic Powdered Matcha Green Tea.  I don’t know what the silly “DNA” reference is to, but what I do know that it tastes good, is organically and sustainably grown, hand-picked.

Moreover, according to Examine.com, green tea has been implicated in benefiting almost every organ system in the body. It is cardioprotective, neuroprotective, anti-obesity, anti-carcinogenic, anti-diabetic, anti-artherogenic, liver protective and beneficial for blood vessel health. These beneficial effects are seen in doses present both in green tea itself (as a drink) as well as from a supplemental form.

The two green teas I recommend that you try are:

I use and thoroughly enjoy both of them.

I don’t know what the silly “DNA” reference is to, but what I do know that it tastes good, is organically and sustainably grown, hand-picked.

MatchaDNA is a strangely named green tea. I don’t know what the silly “DNA” reference is to, but what I do know that it tastes good, is organically and sustainably grown, hand-picked and claims to have 10 times more antioxidants than regular green tea. The MatchaDNA brand now has 2.008 reviews on Amazon, with an average rating of 4 (of 5) stars.

The “AMPK”  (adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase) refereed to in my Jiaoglulan pick is an enzyme that plays a role in cellular energy homeostasis, largely to activate glucose and fatty acid uptake and oxidation when cellular energy is low. Apparently, this tea helps to activate AMPK.  The Jiaogulan AMPK Activator brand is currently enjoys a 4.5 (of 5) rating on Amazon from 427 reviewers.

9 reasons to drink green tea

9 reasons to drink green tea

(Click either of the above images for more info.)

 

Your Takeaway

Yes, I cited 9 reasons to drink green tea either as a substitute for or in addition to coffee, but you need only remember these four things:

  1. Too much coffee can make you anxious, sleepless and keep your cortisol raised for many hours, rather than it’s intended effect, which is to get you run or fight.
  2. You need not completely abandon your coffee habit, just substitute some cups of it for green tea.
  3. The EGCG polyphenol in green tea can help you lose weight and ramp up your antioxidant defenses against excessive free radicals
  4. The Matcha and Jiaoglulan types of green tea are particularly healthy and taste great.

 

Last Updated on September 29, 2022 by Joe Garma

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Joe Garma
 

I help people live with more vitality and strength. I'm a big believer in sustainability, and am a bit nutty about optimizing my diet, supplements, hormones and exercise. To get exclusive Updates, tips and be on your way to a stronger, more youthful body, join my weekly Newsletter. You can also find me on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below 10 comments
frhammersly - June 13, 2010

I am going to buy some of this right now. I think you should really emphasize that it tastes AWESOME.

Reply
    Joseph Garma - June 13, 2010

    Well, to coffee die-hards, it might not taste so awesome, but just like coffee, it's an acquired taste that will eventually taste good (if it doesn't from the start). Definitely worth doing!

    Reply
frhammersly - June 13, 2010

I am going to buy some of this right now. I think you should really emphasize that it tastes AWESOME.

Reply
Joseph Garma - June 13, 2010

Well, to coffee die-hards, it might not taste so awesome, but just like coffee, it's an acquired taste that will eventually taste good (if it doesn't from the start). Definitely worth doing!

Reply
Chuck Bluestein - April 1, 2011

You have some really great articles on your website. Actually your website is my favorite website ever, although webmd.com is tied for my favorite with yours (see more on that below). I have been drinking green tea, but not coffee for decades. But only in recent years did they do all these studies on it. I have also been drinking yerba mate (Jesuit tea) for years but it does not have the studies yet. But you can already read lots of great things about it. In most of South America, it is the most popular drink.

There is a lot more great information on green tea. I have a book Anticancer by an M.D. that tells a lot about cancer and green tea. Note that white tea has a little more anti-oxidants so you can a drink a blend of both. Once I did buy a bottle of instant coffee and used it all but never bought more.

Here is what webmd.com says:
“Studies in China have shown that the more green tea that participants drank, the less the risk of developing stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer.”

Also my webpage on green tea has a link to the study that shows that tea prevents dimentia and AD (Alzheimer Disease). My aunt died of AD but the worse part was the years her daughter spent caring for her, where she did not even recognize her own daughter. This may be the number one reason to drink tea, since vitamin D does a better job against cancer than anything. See my 2nd comment for more. Also the above is my address at Twitter with links to lots of great articles. http://twitter.com/whizkid7

Reply
Chuck Bluestein - April 1, 2011

Note that it is better to read my first comment below first. This is my 2nd comment. Actually the tie is settled. Your website is better than webmd-com since I can leave comments and even edit them on your website. So your website is my favorite website.

Now you may love this comment since you love coffee (but do not put milk and sugar in it). First coffee has more potassium than any drink including orange juice. Although coconut water is tie with it. But the articles about coffee do not mention it. But your article about coffee can mention it. Now if you search the internet you will see that on many definitive sites, they say to increase potassium and reduce sodium. These MDs know about the sodium-potassium pump in all the cells of your body. My webpage on cardiovascular health has a link to the FDA saying to reduce sodium and increase potassium.

Webmd-com has an article saying that cutting down on salt is as good for your heart as quitting smoking! But increasing sodium causes your potassium-to-sodium ratio to increase and that is what is important. So more potassium in your diet from coffee causes your body to get rid of excess sodium faster. http://chuckbluestein.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/first-post-latest-medical-news

But there is a lot more. A simple search for webmd-com and coffee shows that they have an article telling about how coffee prevents cancer and diabetes. Not on this article is Dr Oz saying that coffee is one of the greatest sources of anti-oxidants. Then there is another article about 5 reasons to not quit coffee by shine.yahoo-com. It says that coffee has more anti-oxidants than blueberries. Note that I have links to these articles on my twitter page (whizkid7).

I do not drink coffee but I may start soon. Bob Marley’s son has a new publicly traded coffee company with their coffee on amazon-com already called JAMN. It is organic and fair trade (paying more to the farmers). I saw a video with his farmers saying that they are making twice as much as before and one has 6 kids. Rohan Marley believes strongly in getting food from the earth and that pesticides hurt the earth and the people (farmers) who work the earth are important. Please note that I do not like money one bit, but I have to have some to survive. So over a month ago I bought stock in JAMN when it was 68 cents a share and now it is $1.56 a share. That is the same as a stock going from $68 a share to $156 a share (although penny stocks are very risky).

Reply
    Joseph Garma - April 1, 2011

    That’s high praise coming from you, Chuck, as I follow your comments at HuffPro and know that you’re a prolific writer and reader.

    Took a look at your new blog. Makes a lot of sense for you to have one, again, given what you know and the energy behind it. I wish you much fun with the blog.

    Reply
      Joseph Garma - April 1, 2011

      Dude, you have sooo much material for your new blog. (I’m assuming it’s new.)

      Just grab these long, well written comments — like the one I’m here replying to — and post it on your blog. Begin with a quick summary about the article you’re responding to and get it up. Man, you have so many just on HuffPost!

      Reply
Crystal Evans - July 8, 2015

This blog really helped me a lot!

Reply
Kristina Wilson - May 14, 2016

All things considered, to espresso stalwart, it won’t not taste so amazing, but rather simply like espresso, it’s an obtained taste that will in the end taste great (on the off chance that it doesn’t from the begin). Unquestionably worth doing!

Reply

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