A solution for health problems apart from weightloss: Green-tea

Lucknow: The present era is referred to as the space age or gadget age. Every other person spends long hours working in their offices that they have almost no time to work on themselves. We instead drool over certain ideas that we can turn to at our places. One such thing is the ‘green tea’ that has various benefits apart from weight loss. It is a powerhouse of antioxidants besides other nutrients. So, instead of wasting huge amounts of money at gyms, just go through these heavenly benefits of green tea.

The findings, published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, showed that mice fed with a high-fat diet supplemented with two per cent green tea extract gained about 20 per cent less weight and had lower insulin resistance than mice fed an otherwise identical diet without tea. They also resulted in improved gut health including more beneficial microbes in the intestines and less permeability in the intestinal wall — a condition called ‘leaky gut’.

Leaky gut is a problem in humans that contributes to widespread low-grade inflammation.

Lead author Richard Bruno, Professor at the Ohio State University said, “This study provides evidence that green tea encourages the growth of good gut bacteria, and that leads to a series of benefits that significantly lower the risk of obesity”.

Helps fighting depression

Theanine, an essential amino acid, is highly found in green tea leaves. This substance acts as a tranquilizer and helps your body to relax while in depression.

Prevents Cancer

The polyphenol, catechin epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) restricts tumor cell replication as well as slows down the blood vessels formation around tumors. Hence, green tea is believed to fight the dreaded disease, cancer.

Reduces cholesterol levels

Green tea improves cholesterol levels by lowering the bad cholesterol and increasing the good cholesterol. A study by the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2003 showed that in a 12-week trial, participants who were given green tea supplements showed a reduction in cholesterol level by 16 percent.

Provides hydration to the body

There’s a common belief that drinking tea leads to dehydration, but green tea provides hydration benefits similar to that of water. It helps to retain the moisture content of the body throughout the day.

Improves the skin

Apart from health benefits, green tea works as wonders for your skin as well. There are unending benefits of green tea for the skin.

It has antioxidants known as polyphenols, also found in coffee and fruits. These antioxidants can reduce the ageing of the skin and heal many skin diseases.

It keeps your skin young and rejuvenated. Also, the catechin in green tea can make your skin more resistant to the harshness of UV rays. When UV exposure produces inflammation, green tea supplements reduces the effects of sunburn.

Freezed tea bags, after drinking this tea, when kept on eyes, helps reduce dark circles.

Besides the above mentioned points, green tea fights common bacterial and viral infection. The catechin content restraints harmful bacteria’s and viruses from attaching themselves to the cellular walls. The anti-microbial property also keeps away bad breath, indigestion, cold, flu etc.