What are the benefits of green tea?

[GRLMGC]

I've decided to drink a cup of green tea everyday? I've heard it's good for you but I'm not sure why (I know it won't kill me so there's no harm in drinking it a lot).

Also, are there other teas that are beneficial to one's health?

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

1. Antioxidant, I believe.

[MissMillie]

2. boosts your metabolism (n/t)

.

[GRLMGC]

3. woohoo!

I like that one!

[cookies7]

4. It has a lot of

antioxidants in it. I hear it's good for just about everything.

[Dogmudgeon]

5. Also contains Threonine, a mild sedative and anti-hypertensive

It's been under study for years -- the pharmaceutical companies are trying to figure how to nake a one-off molecule they can patent before starting an anti-green-tea health scare.

--p!

[IronLionZion]

6. John Stewart says it has more vitamin C than an orange

but is he trustworthy? hmm...

It has antioxidants and will increase your metabolism

check this out
http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa011400a.htm

[GRLMGC]

7. cool

thanks for the link :)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

8. Try and get a mix of Green and White Tea. That's what I drink.

White Tea has Anti-viral and Anti-bacterial Properties and is also very good for you.

[JohnyCanuck]

9. Check out Rooibos tea from South Africa

For those of us who have to limit our intake of the regular green or black Tea because of the tanin content (can contribute to kidney stones), South African Rooibos (pronounced "Roy Boss") tea makes a good alternative. It's now increasingly available on line and in health food stores and also contains anti-oxidants etc.


Antioxidants are hot topics in the health news these days, and an herbal tea called rooibos (pronounced ROY-boss) is becoming popular partly because it is being marketed as a healthy beverage with high levels of antioxidants. The rooibos plant (Aspalathus linearis (Burm. f.) Dahlgren, Fabaceae) is a South African flowering shrub used to make a mild-tasting tea that has no caffeine, very little tannin, and significant amounts of polyphenol antioxidants. Although the tea is new to many Americans, it has been made in the Cedarberg mountain region of South Africa for generations. Distributors are promoting the tea for numerous health benefits, citing recent studies that show some antioxidants found in rooibos tea may protect against cancer, heart disease, and stroke. What’s the evidence for these claims?

A Note on Tea Terminology

In the strict sense, the word tea has been reserved for infusions made from leaves of the evergreen shrub Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze, Theaceae, while infusions made from herbs such as rooibos have been called tisanes. Over time, however, the common use of the word tea has been extended to include herbal infusions, and this relaxed usage is followed here. Rooibos is often referred to as red tea because it makes a vibrant red-colored tea, which can be confusing because black tea and hibiscus herbal tea are also sometimes called red tea.

<snip>

Fermented Rooibos against Mutagens: Researchers found that fermented rooibos tea reduced cancer-associated changes in animal cells induced by the mutagens benzopyrene (B(a)P) and mitomycin C (MMC) both in vitro and in vivo.48 The in vitro part of the study measured chromosomal aberrations in animal cells caused by exposure to the mutagens. The cells were treated with tea extract either at the same time as the mutagen or after the mutagen. Some of the tests used rat liver microsomal enzyme, called S9, to provide metabolic activation of the mutagen; B(a)P requires metabolic activation, but MMC can act with or without it.

Both green tea and rooibos tea suppressed aberrant cells caused by B(a)P and MMC in the presence of S9, but rooibos showed a greater suppression of aberrant cells than did green tea (see Table 2). In fact, when the cells were exposed to B(a)P and S9 simultaneously with rooibos tea, the highest concentration of rooibos tea (1000 microgram/ml) completely inhibited the aberrant cells, bringing their percentage down to the level of the controls that were not exposed to any mutagen. Also, rooibos tea suppressed aberrant cells caused by MMC both with and without the presence of S9, but green tea showed no suppression without S9. Treating the cells simultaneously with the mutagen and tea extract caused a greater protective effect than treating the cells with tea extract following exposure to the mutagen.

More at:
http://www.herbalgram.org/herbalgram/articleview.asp?a=2550

[KerryReallyWon]

10. Teresa Heinz Kerry says to always drink green tea...

[GRLMGC]

11. well then, that does it

I'm gonna do it :)

[Sporadicus]

12. For Even More Antioxidants

I've heard white tea is the ticket. It's made from the newest growth on the tea plant - baby tea!