While tea is popular around the world, there are tons of varieties and flavors. One of the most popular, both historically and right now, is green tea. From its taste to its wide range of health benefits, you can find green tea in many forms and wherever you shop.
While you may know it’s a healthy choice, do you really know all of its potential health benefits? This article presents the best proven health benefits that drinking green tea has.
What is Green Tea?
Most of the teas consumed around the world come from the same plant, Camellia Sinensis. Variations of white tea, green tea, black tea, and oolong tea are all based on the degree of fermentation and processing.(1)
Green tea, coming largely from China, is the unfermented form, or the second least processed form. Only white tea undergoes less processing, but does not grow long enough to develop some powerful green tea compounds.
The health benefits of green tea
Green tea naturally contains catechins – a specific type of flavonoid (derived from polyphenols), or plant-derived nutrient, which contains powerful antioxidants. Catechins make up most of the solid part of the green tea leaf and are the driving force behind many of the health benefits associated with green tea. (2)
Green tea contains four main catechins, the most important being EGCG. (2)
- Green tea shows strong antioxidant activity
The EGCG in green tea has been shown to play a major role in reducing cell damage and the growth of potentially harmful cells that can result from oxidation or other types of cell damage. (2)
Although this area is still under study, you can view antioxidants as preventative medicine to help protect your body from damage related to disease or aging.
- Green tea can prevent heart disease
Long studies on large samples of the Japanese population have shown a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease in people who drank green tea daily compared to those who did not. (3)
While the amounts of tea consumed in several studies exploring its effects on heart disease varied, the general trend was that people who drank green tea regularly had better cardiovascular health. (3)
- Green tea can improve blood circulation
Researchers believe that green tea can improve blood circulation and, in turn, prevent many heart diseases. (2) The major benefit for heart health and disease prevention is one of the main reasons to consume green tea.
- Green tea can help reduce body fat
Another study focusing on heart health found that green tea extract helped participants reduce body fat levels by about 10%. (3) A 10% reduction in body fat, especially in overweight or obese people, can have a significant impact on reducing the risk of chronic disease.
- Green tea can help with weight loss
A loss of body fat is essential for losing weight, especially when you want to preserve lean body mass. Green tea has a naturally pleasant flavor and is low in calories – if you can drink it without added sweeteners, it has a naturally low calorie energy boost that can also support a calorie deficit.
- Green tea may help reduce inflammation
While cardiovascular disease is often associated with inflammation, there are many other health issues like joint pain and skin conditions that are affected by inflammation. (2) The antioxidant effect linked to the anti-inflammatory properties gives green tea a lot of goodness for those who struggle with these types of health problems.
- Green tea has antimicrobial properties
Green tea has been shown to help fight bacteria and potentially prevent infections. (2) It has been associated with stopping the spread of bacteria at the cellular level as well as viruses and fungi. (2)
