If you’re looking to improve your health in the upcoming year, tea can help.
- Tea has almost no calories, and flavorful loose leaf teas do not need caloric sweeteners.
- Tea replaces other sugary beverages like soda.
- Tea is full of antioxidants, which have been linked to fighting a number of cancers, including prostate cancer, breast cancer, and other types of cancer.
- Tea is good for the cardiovascular system and dental health.
- Tea may fight the flu. A recent study on children in Japan showed Green tea is known to contain antiviral components that prevent influenza infection.
- Tea has some caffeine, which is released slowly for an extended level of alertness without a sudden crash.
- ECGC, the main antioxidant in green tea, may prevent Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. In 2007, at the Fourth International Scientific Symposium on Tea and Human Health in Washington D.C., Dr. Silvia Mandell presented the results of her study which showed the main antioxidant polyphenol of green tea extract, EGCG, when fed to mice induced with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, helped to protect brain cells from dying, as well as ‘rescuing’ already damaged neurons in the brain, a phenomenon called neurorescue or neurorestoration. The Michael J. Fox Foundation is holding tests in China on early Parkinson’s patients for further research.
- Due to the inclusion of both caffeine and l.theanine, tea induces a relaxed state of alertness; it keeps you energized without being jittery, so you’re better able to focus and study. It may even be an effective treatment for ADHD.
- Tea tastes good, and may even help suppress your appetite so you don’t overeat.
It seems no matter what your resolution is this year, tea can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle.