top 10 (too good to ignore) health benefits of drinking green tea

When you are bored of water and trying to figure out what else to drink on a daily basis for overall health, there are a whole host of options out there. Of course water IS best but

my next favorite option is green tea, because it really does have so many amazing properties. Green tea is loaded with antioxidants, rich in polyphenols, which help to reduce inflammation and prevent chronic disease and other health issues.

Here are 10 bullet point reasons to absolutely include green tea in your diet.
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1. Reduces your risk of heart disease, stroke, and premature death, and
2. Helps to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, and body fat.(1)
3. Protects the brain against cognitive decline.(2)
4. Decreases your risk of diabetes.(3)
5. Helps with seasonal allergies.(4)
6. Helps with mood - due to the alteration in metabolism of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.(5) 
7. Antiviral, and
8. Antibacterial (6)
9. Growing evidence green tea can slow cancer progression, delay the onset of cancer, and interfere with each stage of cancer - initiation, development, progression, and spread.(7)
10. Rich in antioxidants including epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and human oxoguanine glycosylase 1 (OGG1), a DNA repair enzyme lowering oxidative damage to DNA, protecting our DNA, helping to prevent cell damage, and decreasing the risk of cancer.(8,9)

​There are many different kinds of green tea, from Japanese to Chinese, African, Indian etc., and people can get very serious about their green tea consumption - a connoisseur so to speak - similar to how some people are with their coffee. I say experiment and see which kind you like. I would suggest however trying to buy organic whenever possible, for purity purposes. Never a guarantee but certainly helps, as organic standards are more strict.

Research is not crystal clear regarding exactly how much green tea to drink per day for optimal health. However a systemic review and meta-analysis study did show drinking 5 or more cups per day of green tea reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence.(10) So to prevent breast cancer recurrence, perhaps a minimum of 5 cups per day. For other health concerns, perhaps 2-3 cups per day. But even just 1 cup a day will be better than none.

One other thing to note. Research also showed that when milk is added to green tea, it loses its beneficial properties.(11) Say what...?! So best to be a purist and keep your green tea just that...GREEN.
No green tea lattes my friends! Just keep it green.

Meanwhile... keepin' it real. Until next time, xx

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