Green tea wonder

Writer, Sept 9 (ANI): Two mugs of vegetable tea every day can significantly fall the chance of last from cardiovascular disease, claims a new learning.

To make the occurrence, researchers from Okayama University tracked the welfare of much than 12,000 elderly group extant in Nihon. The men and women were elderly between 65 and 84.

In the reflexion, the volunteers were asked to work out questionnaires on style factors including information of diet, vaporisation and beverage intake, reports The Regular Verbalize.

During the tailing cardinal age author than 1,200 of the volunteers died.

Yet, when all questionnaires were analysed, scientists institute that the solon site tea the participants had excited, the less prospective they were to individual died. This, especially, was right of cardiovascular disease.

Those consumption between 420ml and 560ml a day were up to 75 per cent little credible to person died of intuition or circulatory-disease than those who drank less than one cup apiece day.

New Green Tea Spray May Protect Against Skin Cancer

New Chromatic Tea Spray May Protect Against Skin Cancer

A new spray prefab from chromatic tea may protect against injure mansion by reducing the prejudicious personalty of ultraviolet rays, the U.K.'s Regular Communicating reportable Tues.

Researchers at University Hospitals Occurrence Scrutiny Place in Cleveland, Ohio applied the spray onto the cutis of ten volunteers, before they were exposed to ultraviolet unchaste.

The results, publicised in the leger Experimental Dermatology, showed that the wound sprayed with tea was outstrip transistorized to radiophone hurt lineal to the process of human.

Unaged tea is sopranino in disease-fighting chemicals titled polyphenols, which scientists say helpfulness protect against cancer-related radiotelephone scathe by boosting the skin's insusceptible method.

A spray prefabricated from discolour tea worked conscionable as considerably, they intercalary

Green Tea Kit Kat

Nihon's tea start may be slow, but it's relieve an favourable piece of Japanese content. For river tea to change sunk to the place of being stuck in whatever Midwestern chocolate bar must be a new low, conscionable one rank up from sprinkling it on country murphy. To be mediocre tho', with all the remaining flavours popping up, this meet wouldn't be Nippon without a river tea Kit Kat. Nevertheless equal green tea ice toiletries, I see adding sugar and concentrate to veggie tea totally ruins the variety. If you've e'er had sincere, mingy. Greenness tea mightiness be an antioxidant, but phonetician conservationist tea is an oxymoron, equal swing maple syrup on sausages, or uptake a cheeseflower and jam sandwich. Any naif wavy lines didn't excrete up for the sickeningly sugariness perception and any imitation unaged tea form. Next!

Vitamins and Minerals in Green Tea

There are plentitude of vitamins, minerals and group acids to be plant in all teas, but immature tea sets itself separated from the others by also having a mellow attention of Polyphenols and Tannins. These are the compounds that pay conservationist tea its wonderful health-giving benefits and antioxidant properties.

Petrified levels in viridity tea can variegate and are unremarkably driven by the location, begrime process and alt of the tea garden in which it is grown.
As for vitamins, they are also forced to several accolade by the growing conditions. For model, plants unclothed to a lot of temperateness testament run to human a higher vitamin activity than those grown in shadier areas. Justified tho' there are so umpteen factors which can finally make a tea foliage its rattling own unequalled biochemistry, there are a few vitamins and minerals that are vernacular to nearly all of the greenish teas. These are:

Manganese

Manganese is a return mineral exclusive required in moderate amounts to assign catalyst and fat metabolism in the embody. It also assists in control blood dulcorate levels and the creation of cartilage and synovial cosignatory agent. It is also intrinsical for reproductive run and formula animal development. Manganese can easily be sourced from umteen foods, but tea is essentially one of the richest sources of this beta mineral.
Potassium

The body uses potassium for maintaining a typical twinkling and duty the nervus group sanguine. A want in this asphaltic can result in embody assignment, acne, dry skin, insomnia, impaired reflexes and an strong wink. Metal also assists the embody in several key metabolic processes. It mechanism with metal to determine the body's water construction and helps maintain stalls gore somesthesia. Emphasize can increment the body's potassium requirements.

Vitamin A

There are plentiful amounts of this vitamin launch in unaged tea. Amongst new things, Vitamin A is renowned to depute quality sight, cater have levelheaded set, compressible paper, mucous membranes and good the cutis. When sourced from plants and vegetables, Vitamin A is often referred to as Beta-carotene. The body converts Beta-carotene into Vitamin A as required and its regnant antioxidant properties ameliorate to remove clear radicals in the embody.

Vitamin B1

Theamine (Vitamin B1) helps body cells convince carbohydrates into doe. It also assists in the proper performance of the mettle, muscles and unquiet grouping. It is ofttimes referred to as the Disposition Vitamin because of its salutary personalty on rational attitude. A demand of Theamine can reason impuissance, failing and fascicle wrongdoing. Though now real rare, BeriBeri is a ending of prolonged epilepsy of B1
Vitamin B2

Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) complex with new B vitamins in assisting the embody in red radiophone creation and promoting embody development. It also helps termination force, forestall strip lesions and assist in coefficient disadvantage.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a influential antioxidant that helps demilitarize unrestricted radicals in the embody. It's also essential for the mend of regular connective tissue and promoting wound healing. It also may assist the embody's knowledge to oppose infection. It plays a field personation in invigorating murder vessels and maintaining sound set and gums.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that protects cadre membranes from oxidative alteration, hence it may alter immature senescence and degenerative disease. Its antioxidant properties also refrain protect the embody's red slaying cells and travel work. It is also needed for all skeletal, cardiac and smoothen muscle purpose.

Fluoride

The unripe tea flora is an excellent fluoride accumulator. Fluoride, constitute in its natural organize in unaged tea, helps protect set from dental crumble and strengthens agency enamel.

The Benefits Of Green Tea Our Three Es Guide

Quite often if you think about drinking tea, it often brings up a plethora of images, memories and ideas.For some it’s the health benefits of green tea, for others it brings forth memories of cold nights by the fireplace.

Similarly for others, it’s gallons of sun tea brewing on the back porch.

Of all the teas available out there, one that is ever growing in popularity is green tea.

The benefits of green tea are numerous, ranging from the flavor to the health benefits.

Read below for our guide on the three Es of green tea; enjoyment, energy, and essential health.

Enjoyment

Perhaps the most important benefit of green tea is the sheer enjoyment that goes along with a soothing cup of green tea.

It has a light, delicate flavor and its ability to complement breakfasts, lunch and dinner make this drink a favorite.

Green tea can be obtained in a number of flavors from people like and is Adagio Teas  fabulous with honey.

In addition to being served hot, green tea is now being served as a cold bottled beverage or as a component of smoothies or frappes.

So now, even in the hot summer days, you can enjoy the flavor of green tea and reap the health benefits of green tea.

Energy

In addition to enjoyment, another benefit of green tea is the energy factor. Like coffee, green tea has caffeine.

Although there is less caffeine contained in green tea, the tea can still go a long way to getting you over that late afternoon hump.

In actual fact the reduced dose of caffeine is yet another benefit of green tea -- while the caffeine is just enough to give you a boost, for many people it does so without creating the jittery, anxious feeling that other caffeinated beverages can cause.

So the next time you make your way to the coffee machine in your office, consider instead pouring a hot cup of water and dipping in a bag of green tea.

Essential Health Benefits

Enjoyment and energy are two of the great benefits of green tea.  But perhaps the greatest of the green tea benefits are the health benefits that are becoming increasingly more associated and recognized in general with drinking green tea.

Green tea is chock full of antioxidants, those wild little particles that counterbalance free radicals.

Free radicals are produced as a result of our bodies’ natural metabolic processes, and can cause damage to our cells. By counterbalancing these free radicals, antioxidants prevent some of this damage.

But regardless of which ‘E’ has you interested in green tea, follow the urge to grab a cup and enjoy the benefits of green tea too.

Green Tea - Home Remedies

The claims for green tea include reducing the risk of cancer, preventing or alleviating rheumatoid arthritis and eliminating heartburn. 

But green tea is perhaps best known for its high levels of anti-oxidents.

This is especially of use to those with active lifestyles as anti-oxidents help reduce the level of damage caused by free radicals.

However, if you try it, you will find that green tea is more than just a tasty, hot beverage.

Green teas have become an integral part of home remedies everywhere, from skin and teeth care to general preventative measures.

Green Tea and Weight Loss

Perhaps unusual to think of green tea as having weight loss properties but there now exists a green tea diet and many people swear by green tea extract as part of their weight loss programme.

In fact you will find that green tea extract is contained in proprietary fat burning supplements.  The green tea extract is used to increase metabolism without increasing your heart rate.  A common side effect  of other weight loss supplements.

Green Tea and Skin Care

Green tea have been found to have positive effects in the arena of skin care. Two specific areas include acne and eczema. For acne, this tea makes a great, cheap alternative to expensive toners or astringents.

Many people combine it with ingredients to make a potion that can be applied with a cotton ball directly onto clean skin.

Simply drinking green tea has also worked for some to decrease the presence of acne, although you do have to be careful of increasing the intake of caffeine in your diet, as this has been linked to an increase in breakouts.

Homemade Mouthwash

In addition to skin care, another benefit of green tea claimed by manufactuers is that it can be used as part of a homemade mouthwash.

So what property of this light drink helps keep your teeth healthy? It’s the presence of fluoride that helps prevent tooth decay and strengthens your teeth and gums.

Mixing the brewed tea with spring water makes the most basic recipe, but it can be combined with other ingredients to create intriguing flavors of homemade mouthwashes.

More Health Benefits of Green Tea

A regular daily intake of green tea or green tea extract is also thought to help your overall health and well-being. The tea is full of antioxidants that bind free radicals in our bodies; these free radicals can often cause damage to cells.

There are also several green tea research studies linking green tea to cancer prevention. In addition to this wonderful benefit, green tea is also thought to promote an increase in metabolism that helps lower cholesterol in the body.

 

GREEN TEA AND PROSTATE CANCER -second most common form of cancer

The second most common form of cancer in American men, prostate cancer is more than just a little bit scary. Each year in the U.S. more than 220,000 men receive the unwelcome news that they've developed prostate cancer, and 31,000 men die of the disease. Yet in Asian countries, the rates of prostate cancer are surprisingly low. Why are they so lucky? Many researchers think it may have to do with their tea consumption.

At least two studies of large populations have shown that men who regularly consume tea (black or green) have a lower incidence of prostate cancer.^1,2 Researchers have discovered that risk of developing this killer disease decreases as the frequency, duration and quantity of green tea consumption increases.³ And a study of a group of men with pre-cancerous prostate "wounds" (lesions) found that those who received daily doses of green tea catechins were 90 percent less likely to develop full-blown prostate cancer than those who didn't receive catechins.⁴

How do the researchers think it works? Well, for starters, once the green tea is ingested, its catechins make their way through the bloodstream and settle into the prostate tissue.⁵  From there, they may help fight prostate cancer in a variety of ways:

• According to the results of "test tube" studies, the catechin EGCg slows the growth of human prostate cancer cells and promotes cancer cell “suicide.”⁶
• Animal studies have shown that green tea catechins reduce the activity of an enzyme called ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), which may play a part in the start-up of prostate cancer.⁷
• EGCg inhibits an enzyme called COX-2, which is implicated in prostate cancer and found in large quantities in prostate cancer tissue.⁸  
• COX-2 inhibitors, like celecoxib (brand name Celebrex) inhibits the growth of prostate cancer in animals. But a 2007 study published in Clinical Cancer Research found that EGCg fights prostate cancer almost as effectively as celecoxib. And when the two are combined, the results are much better than either alone^.9

 While no one is suggesting that drinking green tea is a solution to the prostate cancer problem, it does look like it may be able to help. So see your doctor for regular checkups, eat healthfully, get plenty of exercise and keep drinking your green tea!

Decreased Risk of Prostate Cancer With Increased Consumption of Green Tea

Participants: 404 people: 130 who had prostate cancer and 274 hospital inpatients who did not have prostate cancer or other malignant diseases
 

Where: Hangzhou, China
 

Type of study: Case-control
 

Study Methods: The green tea-drinking habits of all subjects were collected in face-to-face interviews, noting the duration, quantity and frequency of usual green tea consumption, and the number of new batches brewed per day.
 

What happened: The risk of prostate cancer decreased with the increasing frequency, duration and quantity of green tea consumption. Compared to the non-green tea drinkers, the prostate cancer risk decreased 72% for the tea drinkers, 73% for those drinking more than 3 cups/day, 88% for those who had been drinking green tea for more than 40 years, and 91% for those consuming more than 1.5 kg green tea leaves per year (an average of about 1 1/2 cups of tea per day).
 

Researchers' conclusion: “The dose response relationships were also significant, suggesting that green tea is protective against prostate cancer.”

25 Reasons Why You Should Start Drinking Green Tea Now

Green tea has increasingly become a very popular drink worldwide because of its immensely powerful health benefits.

It is extraordinarily amazing what green tea can do for your health.

And if you're not drinking 3 to 4 cups of green tea today, you're definitely NOT doing your health a big favor.

*1. Green Tea and Cancer*

Green tea helps reduce the risk of cancer.

The antioxidant in green tea is 100 times more effective than vitamin C and 25 times better than vitamin E.

This helps your body at protecting cells from damage believed to be linked to cancer.

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*2. Green Tea and Heart Disease*

Green tea helps prevent heart disease and stroke by lowering the level of cholesterol.

Even after the heart attack, it prevents cell deaths and speeds up the recovery of heart cells.

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*3. Green Tea and Anti-Aging*

Green tea contains antioxidant known as polyphenols which fight against free radicals.

What this means it helps you fight against aging and promotes longevity.

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*4. Green Tea and Weight Loss*

Green tea helps with your body weight loss. Green tea burns fat and boosts your metabolism rate naturally.

It can help you burn up to 70 calories in just one day.

That translates to 7 pounds in one year.

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*5. Green Tea and Skin *

Antioxidant in green tea protects the skin from the harmful effects of free radicals, which cause wrinkling and skin aging.

Green tea also helps fight against skin cancer.

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*6. Green Tea and Arthritis*

Green tea can help prevent and reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis.

Green tea has benefit for your health as it protects the cartilage by

blocking the enzyme that destroys cartilage.

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*7. Green Tea and Bones*

The very key to this is high fluoride content found in green tea.

It helps keep your bones strong.

If you drink green tea every day, this will help you preserve your bone density.

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*8. Green Tea and Cholesterol*

Green tea can help lower cholesterol level.

It also improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol, by reducing bad cholesterol level.

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*9. Green Tea and Obesity*

Green tea prevents obesity by stopping the movement of glucose in fat cells.

If you are on a healthy diet, exercise regularly and drink green tea, it is unlikely you'll be obese.

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*10. Green Tea and Diabetes*

Green tea improves lipid and glucose metabolisms, prevents sharp increases in blood sugar level, and balances your metabolism rate.

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*11. Green Tea and Alzheimer's*

Green tea helps boost your memory.

And although there's no cure for Alzheimer's, it helps slow the process of reduced acetylcholine in the brain, which leads to Alzheimer's.

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*12. Green Tea and Parkinson's*

Antioxidants in green tea helps prevent against cell damage in the brain,

which could cause Parkinson's. People drinking green tea also are less likely to progress with Parkinson's.

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*13. Green Tea and Liver Disease*

Green tea helps prevent transplant failure in people with liver failure.

Researches showed that green tea destroys harmful free radicals in fatty livers.

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*14. Green Tea and High Blood Pressure*

Green tea helps prevent high blood pressure.

Drinking green tea helps keep your blood pressure down by repressing angiotensin, which leads to high blood pressure.

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*15. Green Tea and Food Poisoning*

Catechin found in green tea can kill bacteria which causes food poisoning and kills the toxins produced by those bacteria.

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*16. Green Tea and Blood Sugar*

Blood sugar tends to increase with age, but polyphenols and polysaccharides in green tea help lower your blood sugar level.

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*17. Green Tea and Immunity*

Polyphenols and flavenoids found in green tea help boost your immune system, making your health stronger in fighting against infections.

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*18. Green Tea and Cold and Flu*

Green tea prevents you from getting a cold or flu.

Vitamin C in green tea helps you treat the flu and the common cold.

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*19. Green Tea and Asthma*

Theophylline in green tea relaxes the muscles which support the bronchial tubes, reducing the severity of asthma.

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*20. Green Tea and Ear Infection*

Green tea helps with ear infection problem.

For natural ear cleaning, soak a cotton ball in green tea and clean the infected ear.

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*21. Green Tea and Herpes*

Green tea increases the effectiveness of topical interferon treatment of herpes.

First green tea compress is applied, and then let the skin dry before the interferon treatment.

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*22. Green Tea and Tooth Decay*

Green tea destroys bacteria and viruses that cause many dental diseases.

It also slows the growth of bacteria which leads to bad breath.

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*23. Green Tea and Stress*

L-theanine, which is a kind of amino acids in green tea, can help relieve stress and anxiety.

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*24. Green Tea and Allergies*

EGCG found in green tea relieves allergies.

So, if you have allergies, you should really consider drinking green tea.

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*25. Green Tea and HIV*

Scientists in Japan have found that EGCG (Epigallocatechin Gallate) in green tea can stop HIV from binding to healthy immune cells.

What this means is that green tea can help stop the HIV virus from spreading.

Green Tea for Breast Cancer

Green tea has many health benefits, some have been proven and some may just be folklore. One particular effect that green tea seems to have is to fight and/or prevent breast cancer.

I would like to provide some information on this, but please remember that I'm just a lowly tea drinker and not a doctor or a chemical engineer.  Much of the research is just plain over my head, so I will just summarize to the best of my abilities.

First of all, what is green tea? Just like black tea, it comes from the Camellia sinensis plant. Black tea is fermented and green tea is not (oolong tea is partly fermented). Green tea is very popular in China and Japan and is gaining favour in other nations too. They have been drinking green tea for health reasons for over 5,000 years in Asia.

Some of the various chemical compounds in green tea:

• polyphenols and flavonoids
• alkaloids, such as caffeine and theobromine
• carbohydrates
• tannins
• minerals, such as fluoride and aluminum

When it comes to cancer treatment and prevention, it's the polyphenols that are important. Green tea has higher amounts of these chemicals than black tea because the fermentation process alters their composition. Of all the different polyphenols, one seems to stand out above the rest. EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) is a very powerful antioxidant and is believed to be an important player in the therapeutic qualities of green tea. How it works is still unclear, but it may inhibit cell-replication enzymes (preventing cancer growth) as well as other cellular processes that are too complicated to get into.

In various studies, rats with breast tumors were given green tea to drink and compared to similar rats that only drank water. The green-tea-rats had reductions in tumor size, and new tumors were slower to develop. There don't seem to have been any studies on humans yet.

For humans to gain any health benefits, you would need to drink around 3-4 cups every day (without milk or sugar). For people who are at-risk for developing cancer, it might be a worthwhile avenue to pursue. I think for the everyday person, that's a lot of tea to drink. You can also get your green tea in capsule form, but there have been no studies done on the effectiveness of such pills.

A major concern with drinking so much tea is the caffeine. Though there is less caffeine in tea than in coffee, it does start to add up when drinking large volumes. But can you switch to decaf? The answer is, maybe. It all depends on how your chosen tea is decaffeinated. Tea that has been decaffeinated with a solvent (such as Ethyl Acetate) is going to have a much lower level of EGCG, than a tea that has been processed with a water/carbon dioxide method. Water decaffeinated tea will retain almost 95% of its EGCG.

So there is one more good reason for us women to drink green tea. I read that green tea might also help against prostate cancer, but that's another article altogether.

Green tea tripled the breast cancer survival rate*

*One dramatic study showed that green tea tripled the breast cancer survival rate.

At Nagoya University Medical School, Japan, researchers initiated breast cancer in rats. The animals were divided into groups that received no treatment or treatments of various antioxidants including green tea extract.

When the experiment ended, there was 93.8% survival in the green tea extract group compared to only 33.3% survival in the control group that received no treatment. The survival rate for the other antioxidants was between 70-80%.

It’s important to understand that the breast cancer was so severe that every single animal developed breast cancer. But the green tea extract group had delayed onset, smaller tumors, and triple the breast cancer survival rate. In addition, there were no toxic side effects from the green tea extract. (Hirose, 1994)

While this particular breast cancer green tea research study is preliminary, almost 100 studies on green tea and breast cancer have shown remarkable protection through a variety of biological mechanisms including killing cancer cells through apoptosis, protection of normal cells, prevention of cancer adhesion, prevention of cancer initiation, prevention of cancer progression, prevention of cancer metastasis, prevention of angiogenesis, prevention of inflammation, prevention of DNA damage from free radicals, as well as increasing the survival rate. 

Green Tea Extract Increases Metabolism, May Aid in Weight Loss

There are two ways to lose weight -- either reduce energy intake, or increase energy expenditure. Because hypothyroidism -- even after treatment -- may reduce energy expenditure in some people, patients naturally are looking for options that can help safely help raise the metabolism.

In a study reported on in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was found that green tea extract resulted in a significant increase in energy expenditure (a measure of metabolism), plus also had a significant effect on fat oxidation. While some of the effects were originally theorized to be due to the caffeine content of green tea, the researchers discovered that the tea actually has properties that go beyond those that would be explained by the caffeine. The same amount of caffeine as was in the green tea, administered alone, failed to change energy expenditure in other studies. This led reseachers to believe that there is some interaction going on with the active ingredients of green tea that promotes increased metabolism and fat oxidation. 

The researchers indicated that their findings have substantial implications for weight control. A 4% overall increase in 24-hour energy expenditure was attributed to the green tea extract, however, the research found that the extra expenditure took place during the daytime. This led them to conclude that, since thermogenesis (the body's own rate of burning calories) contributes 8-10% of daily energy expenditure in a typical cubject, that this 4% overall increase in energy expenditure due to the green tea actually translated to a 35-43% increase in daytime thermogenesis. 

Of critical importance to thyroid patients is the fact that none of the research subjects reported any side effects, and no significant differences in heart rates were noticed. In this respect, green tea extract is different from some of the prescription drugs for obesity, and herbal products like ephedra, which can raise heart rates and blood pressure, and are not recommended for many individuals, in particular, those with thyroid disease who may be particularly sensitive to stimulants. 

Implications for You?

If you were to incorporate green tea into your weight loss efforts, how is the best way to go about it? 

One way would be to choose a reputable brand of organic green tea at a health food store or natural grocery, and start by taking a cup of tea every day. You can also take a green tea extract, in the form of a supplement. 

Either way, says dietitian Lynn Moss, M.S., R.D., a continuing education specialist for Pharmavite, makers of Nature Made and Nature's Resource supplements and herbs, you should definitely take the green tea with meals, to reproduce the study's conditions as much as possible. 

Moss also feels that green tea may be a good choice for thyroid patients because, unlike caffeine, " green tea has the potential to accelerate metabolism -- which can help weight loss slightly -- without overstimulating your adrenal glands."

And even a small effect can go a long way, when you are dealing with a metabolism that may not rebound entirely, despite hypothyroidism treatment. 

SPECIAL NOTE: Is Green Tea Dangerous to the Thyroid?

In response to my article, some readers expressed concerns regarding the high fluoride content in tea, and the negative relationship between ingestion of too much fluoride and thyroid problems, as well as other health concerns. 

This is definitely something to be considered before deciding to take green tea. 

While green tea has some definite benefits in the cancer-prevention and metabolism-boosting arena, the fluoride content may, according to some practitioners, be a concern for the public in general, but specifically for thyroid patients. 

Green Tea Fights Fat

Green Tea Ingredient May Promote Healthy Weight Loss
Need another healthy reason to drink green tea? Aside from fighting heart disease, cancer, and other diseases, a new study shows that drinking green tea may also fight fat.
The study showed that people who drank a bottle of tea fortified with green tea extract every day for three months lost more body fat than those who drank a bottle of regular oolong tea.
Researchers say the results indicate that substances found in green tea known as catechins may trigger weight loss by stimulating the body to burn calories and decreasing body fat.
The findings appear in the January issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Green Tea: Fat Fighter?
Black tea, oolong tea, and green tea come from the same Camellia sinensis plant. But unlike the other two varieties, green tea leaves are not fermented before steaming and drying.

Most teas contain large amounts of polyphenols, which are plant-based substances that have been shown to have antioxidant, anticancer, and antiviral properties.

However, green tea is particularly rich in a type of polyphenols called catechins. These substances have also been shown to have anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties, but recent research in animals show that catechins may also affect body fat accumulation and cholesterol levels.

In this study, researchers looked at the effects of catechins on body fat reduction and weight loss in a group of 35 Japanese men. The men had similar weights based on theirBMI (body mass index, an indicator of body fat) and waist sizes.

The men were divided into two groups. For three months, the first group drank a bottle of oolong tea fortified with green tea extract containing 690 milligrams of catechins, and the other group drank a bottle of oolong tea with 22 milligrams of catechins.

During this time, the men ate identical breakfasts and dinners and were instructed to control their calorie and fat intake at all times so that overall total diets were similar.

After three months, the study showed that the men who drank the green tea extract lost more weight (5.3 pounds vs. 2.9 pounds) and experienced a significantly greater decrease in BMI, waist size, and total body fat.

In addition, LDL "bad" cholesterol went down in the men who drank the green tea extract.

The catechin content varies by amount of green tea used and steeping time. But general recommendations, based on previous studies on the benefits of green tea, are at least 4 cups a day. Green tea extract supplements are also available.

Researchers say the results indicate that catechins in green tea not only help burn calories and lower LDL cholesterol but may also be able to mildly reduce body fat.

"These results suggest that catechins contribute to the prevention of and improvement in various lifestyle-related diseases, particularly obesity," write researcher Tomonori Nagao of Health Care Products Research Laboratories in Tokyo, and colleagues.

Green tea appears to prevent cancer in men

prostate cancer developed the disease, compared to nine out of 30 in a control, according to a team of Italian researchers from the University of Parma and University of Modena and Reggio Emilia led by Saverio Bettuzzi, Ph.D. " After a year's oral administration of green tea catechins (GTCs), only one man in a group of 32 at high risk for prostate cancer developed the disease, compared to nine out of 30 in a control, according to a team of Italian researchers from the University of Parma and University of Modena and Reggio Emilia led by Saverio Bettuzzi, Ph.D.
Their results were reported here today at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

"Numerous earlier studies, including ours, have demonstrated that green tea catechins, or pure EGCG (a major component of GTCs), inhibited cancer cell growth in laboratory models," Bettuzzi explained. "We wanted to conduct a clinical trial to find out whether catechins could prevent cancer in men. The answer clearly is yes."

Earlier research demonstrated primarily that green tea catechins were safe for use in humans. Bettuzzi and his colleagues had found that EGCG targets prostate cancer cells specifically for death, without damaging the benign controls. They identified Clusterin, the most important gene involved in apoptosis, or programmed cell death in the prostate, as a possible mediator of catechins action. "EGCG induced death in cancer cells, not normal cells, inducing Clusterin expression" said Bettuzzi.

To gauge susceptibility for prostate cancer among their research subjects, the team of Italian scientists recruited men with high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia – premalignant lesions that presage invasive prostate cancer within one year in nearly a third of cases and for which no treatment was given.

Eligible men were between 45 and 75 years of age. Vegetarians and men consuming green tea or derived products, or those taking anti-oxidants or following anti-androgenic therapy were excluded.

Of the 62 volunteers, 32 received three tablets per day of 200 mg each GTCs; the remainder were given a placebo. Follow-up biopsies were administered after six months and again at one year. Only one case of prostate cancer was diagnosed among those receiving 600 mg daily of GTCs, while nine cases were found in the untreated group. The 30 percent incidence rate among controls is consistent with previous findings, as was the absence of significant side effects or adverse reactions.

The interest in green tea catechins and other polyphenols – antioxidants found in many plants that give some flowers, fruits and vegetables their coloring – derives from traditional Chinese medicine, and the observation of lower cancer rates among Asian populations.

Bettuzzi observed that the Mediterranean diet is rich in vegetables, and lower rates of prostate cancer are found in that region, as well.

The 600 mg-per-day dosage of caffeine-free, total catechins (50 percent of which is EGCG) given to participants in the Italian study is one or two times the amount of green tea consumed daily in China, where ten to 20 cups a day is normal.

"We still don't know enough about the biological processes leading to prostate cancer," Bettuzzi noted. "The only thing we know for sure is that prostate cancer is diffuse, related to age and more prevalent in the West. Thus, prevention could be the best way to fight it. Although our follow-up will continue for up to five years, a larger, confirmatory study is needed."

Even so, Bettuzzi hints at the exciting prospect of using green tea catechins as a prophylactic against prostate cancer in men believed to be at higher risk, such as the elderly, African-Americans, and those with a family history of prostate cancer.