The Bottom Line. Green tea is packed full of health-promoting compounds. Regularly drinking green tea can help you lose weight and reduce your risk of several diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Drinking three to five cups of green tea per day seems to be optimal to reap the most health benefits.
Tea has been used for medicinal purposes in China and Japan for thousands of years. Green tea as a beverage or dietary supplement is promoted for improving mental alertness, relieving digestive symptoms and headaches, and promoting weight loss.
Best for Overall Health: Green Tea
When it comes to tea, green tea gets the gold. “Green tea is the champ when it comes to offering health benefits,” says Czerwony. “It's the Swiss Army knife of teas.
To be safe, drink less than 8 cups of green tea daily. This is because drinking green tea in excess could lead to consuming too much caffeine. Although rare, there is also a potential for liver injury from consuming large amounts of green tea's catechins.
Therefore, if you are sensitive to caffeine, consider avoiding drinking green tea for up to 6 hours before bed to prevent sleep problems. Certain compounds in green tea may inhibit the absorption of iron and other minerals, so it's best to drink it between meals.
The Bottom Line. Green tea is packed full of health-promoting compounds. Regularly drinking green tea can help you lose weight and reduce your risk of several diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Drinking three to five cups of green tea per day seems to be optimal to reap the most health benefits.
People with peptic ulcers or acid reflux should not consume green tea excessively. A 1984 study concluded that tea is a potent stimulant of gastric acid, which can be reduced by adding milk and sugar. 2.
Determining which is better ultimately comes down to your specific needs. Green tea and coffee are both healthy and safe. Green tea may be a better choice for people with anxiety or insomnia. In contrast, coffee may suit you better if you're looking for increased alertness or improved physical performance.
Green tea is an exceptionally healthy beverage. It contains caffeine and the antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), both of which appear to boost metabolism ( 71 , 72 ). EGCG is a catechin, which several studies suggest may help you lose belly fat.
Excessive drinking of green tea can cause stomach problems, diarrhoea and can even cause iron deficiency. You may also experience insomnia. Hence, drink it in limit as excess of green tea can prove detrimental to your health.
Matcha green tea is considered one of the healthiest green tea because the entire leaf is consumed by tea drinkers. The beverage is commonly brewed as a matcha latte or traditionally according to principles of the Japanese tea ceremony.
A natural flush for your system, antioxidant-rich green tea will help your body increase the production of detoxification properties. Whilst also boosting your immune system while protecting your liver from the damaging effects of toxic substances such as alcohol.
And drinking green tea may even help you lose weight. The caffeine and catechins it contains have been shown to boost your metabolism and increase fat burning (9, 10 ). Overall, studies indicate that consuming green tea can help you burn an additional 75–100 calories per day ( 11 ).
White tea is the least processed variety of tea and has the highest fat-burning micronutrients known as polyphenols. White tea helps in breaking down the fat and prevents the new fat cells from forming. White tea can also boost your metabolism by 4-5 per cent, resulting in burning an extra 70-100 more calories per day.
Green tea's anti-inflammatory properties can help reduce skin irritation, skin redness, and swelling. Applying green tea to your skin can soothe minor cuts and sunburn, too. Due to its anti-inflammatory properties, studies have also found topical green tea to be an effective remedy for many dermatological conditions.
Teas. Many black, green, and herbal teas contain tannins, which naturally stain teeth and gums. Green tea leaves a dull gray stain on teeth, while black tea leaves yellowish stains, but even such herbal teas as chamomile and hibiscus may cause staining and discoloration if regularly consumed over time.
The green brew can also have a calming effect on your mind. Theanine, an amino acid found in green tea leaves, helps you relax and keep stress at bay. According to researchers, theanine also helps to reduce anxiety.
You can put milk in green tea. White tea can be great with milk, and oolong tea with milk can be beautiful. The worst kind of tea to drink with milk is a tea that does not taste good on its own. If a tea is bitter and astringent, your body is telling you not to drink it.
Through cellular, animal, and human experiments, green tea and its major component, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) have been demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory effects.
Green tea extract and, more rarely, ingestion of large amounts of green tea have been implicated in cases of clinically apparent acute liver injury, including instances of acute liver failure and either need for urgent liver transplantation or death.
Because green tea leaves are not oxidised like black leaves, you should never use boiling water as it will scorch the leaves and you'll miss out on the tea's full flavour profile.
According to a new study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, tea could help reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. Researchers found that drinking tea—especially green tea—three or more times a week can significantly improve your overall heart health due to a type of antioxidant.