All Articles, Food & Nutrition, Health & Wellness
The Queen Drinks Green Tea. Long Live the Queen!
| July 31, 2009 | |
| Dr. Gary Huber : Head Medical Ego |
Wow, talk about your unfair trade practices. Asia brought us green tea and we sent them Ronald McDonald. I think they have grounds for a formal complaint. Green tea is one of the most amazing foods on this planet. It is the second most consumed beverage in the world behind water, yet just starting to make an impact in the U.S. There are more than 2,500 scientific studies involving green tea with such impressive findings that the National Cancer Institute is working to develop new cancer fighting drugs using green tea compounds.
The magic in green tea comes from a compound called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) which is a type of antioxidant and just one of several polyphenols found in green tea. I generally hate broad medical claims but I have to say that there are hundreds and yes even thousands of studies to back up this next statement: green tea polyphenols reduce bacterial and viral infections; they greatly impact chronic degenerative diseases like heart disease, cancer, stroke, osteoporosis, and dementia and much, much more.
Let’s look at just its ability to fight heart disease. Green tea catechins inhibit the enzyme that produces free radicals at the endothelial lining of arteries. This critical one cell layer that lines all of your arteries is protected from plaque formation by this function and thus reduces your risk for heart attacks and atherosclerosis. Green tea also lowers LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglycerides, and also lowers fibrinogen, which results in lower risk for blood clots. It also inhibits the activity of lipase, the digestive enzyme that helps digest fat. This slows fat breakdown in the gut and directly lowers triglyceride levels. There is a lethal protein labeled STAT-1 that plays a major role in cell death after a stroke or heart attack. Green tea’s EGCG not only blocks the action of STAT-1 but speeds heart cell recovery. Lastly, polyphenols decrease blood clot formation by reducing the production of inflammatory cytokines. This is a very real and very potent one-two punch to reduce heart disease.
Green tea’s effects on cancer are monstrous but allow me to summarize them briefly. The polyphenols in green tea are very unfriendly to cancer cells:
- They trigger apoptosis (cell death) in cancer cells but not in normal healthy cells.
- Inhibit angiogenesis, cutting of the blood supply to cancer cells thereby starving them to death.
- Shut off the growth genes in cancer cells
- Inhibit overproduction of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 which plays a part in cancer growth.
- Decreases insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) which is a compound linked to breast, prostate and colon cancer.
- Reduces the production of several compounds in cancer cells that are linked to cancer spread or metastasis.
STOP! Too much “science” for you? Then let’s keep it simple. Green tea fights cancer at every level, protects your heart and your brain, lowers cholesterol and triglycerides, lowers blood pressure, helps burn fat, and has 1/5th the caffeine of coffee. Other than water, green tea is one of very few beverages consumed by humans that actually promotes health.
Look for an upcoming post where I will continue my rant on green tea with discussion on its effect on brain waves and thought process as well as its fat burning effect. Now go pour yourself a nice cup of health.
For more about the benefits of consuming green tea as an organic whole food visit www.EmeraldCityTea.com
Related:
Want to Look & Feel Good? Be a Tea’s
[Leave a Comment] [Read Comments]
