Perhaps one of the easiest and most beneficial changes we could make in our daily diets is to drink a cup or two of green tea. Green tea is full of cancer-fighting polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants, and studies are showing that people who regularly drink green tea reduce their risk of breast, stomach, esophagus, colon, and/or prostate cancer.
Green tea can also be used to relieve itching, swelling, and pain from sunburns. Try soaking some green tea on cotton balls and putting them on your puffy eyelids. And green tea helps protect your skin from the sun's unhealthy rays that can cause skin cancer-- so check out sunscreens and moisturizers that contain green tea.
People who sip just half a cup a day of green tea are almost 50 percent less likely to wind up with high blood pressure than non-drinkers. Credit goes to the polyphenols again (especially one known as ECGC). They help keep blood vessels from contracting and raising blood pressure.
It may be that drinking green tea daily also helps keep your memory sharper. It appears that the tea's big dose of antioxidants fights the free-radical damage to brain nerves seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Green tea can also help fight the nasty plague that can build up in blood vessels.
And....green tea speeds up your body's metabolism....burns up calories faster!
Brewing the perfect cup of green tea is a tricky process. If not handled properly, those same polyphenols that provide health benefits can ruin the flavor, making the tea taste "gassy." It's particularly important not to overbrew. While it's best to follow the manufacturer's instructions for each variety of green tea, here are some general instructions:
* Use one tea bag, or 1-2 teaspoons per cup.
* Fill a kettle with cold water and bring to a boil.
* Remove kettle from the heat, and allow it to stand for up to 3 minutes.
* Pour the heated water over the tea bag or tea, and allow it to steep for up to 3 minutes. If using a tea bag, remove the bag.
* Allow the tea to cool for three more minutes.
Then sit back and enjoy sipping your cup of tea, knowing you are truly doing something very healthy or your body and mind!
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