I knew I was always right!
Posted on 11/22/2008 9:28:00 PM PST by nickcarraway
Drinking green tea may help prevent heart disease and stroke, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Athens Medical School in Greece and published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention.
"A couple of cups a day would probably be a good dose for people," researcher Charalambos Vlachopoulos said. "This is the first study to show these effects for green tea."
Prior research has indicated that black tea can improve cardiovascular health, leading researchers suspect that green tea might even more effective. Many of the beneficial health effects of tea are attributed to its high content of antioxidant polyphenols, especially flavonoids. Most of these polyphenols are destroyed, however, by the fermentation process that makes tea black. This is why green tea has a water-extractable polyphenol content of between 30 and 40 percent, while the content in black tea is only 3 to 10 percent.
Oolong tea, which is partially fermented, has a polyphenol content between that of green and black tea.
In the current study, researchers had 14 volunteers drink three different beverages, on three separate occasions: 6 grams of green tea, 125 milligrams of caffeine (the amount found in 6 grams of green tea) and a cup of hot water. They measured the flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the participants' blood vessels at 30, 90 and 120 minutes after consumption.
FMD is a widely used measure of blood vessel health.
The participants' FMD improved by an average of 3.9 percent within 30 minutes of drinking green tea. It did not change at all in those who drank either the caffeine or hot water.
"Green tea is consumed less in the Western world than black tea, but it could be more beneficial because of the way it seems to improve [circulatory] function," Vlachopoulos said.
He also noted that a number of studies have linked green tea to various cancer-fighting effects.
Please realize that if medical science had not done this study, green tea would have no positive medical effects on anyone who had taken it, or was currently taking it.
Cool beans! I’ve been drinking several cups of green tea a day for more than ten years. :o)
Exactly!
I knew I was always right!
I worked for a company who had ties with China and the guys would bring real green tea and give it to us. I was drinking this green tea every afternoon and after about two weeks, I started have heart palpitations when driving home from work. I went to the doctor but he couldn’t find anything. So I realized the only thing different I had been doing was drinking the green tea. I stopped and no more palpitations. I will never drink green tea again.
You can drink decaf. It does so some amazing things to one who drinks a few cups a day. However if you are not interested in the benefits I can see where removal works.
Mine was just the opposite. I had to cut out virtually all caffeine. I had palpitations and even went to the ER for it. After $14,000 dollars in tests they came back to me and told me nothing was wrong and to stop drinking caffeine.
I don’t believe half the things I read about green tea and other such products. Five years from now they will tell you it causes cancer.Yea, maybe massive doses of certain herbs and teas taken for a lifetime may have some health benefits but I meet people who drink green tea thinking they will feel so much better in a month. Most of these products make for expensive urine at best.
Like, *PING*, dude.
thanks, bfl
White tea is the least processed and is supposed to be healthier. I can’t tolerate caffeine though either.
It is perfect for coffee, tea, etc.
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