Drink Green Tea to Live Longer |

For some, reaching for a cup of hot tea brings comfort on cold days or helps them mentally prepare for the day. There’s something soothing and reassuring about sipping a warm beverage. Adding tea into your routine can bring more than just those comforts. Drinking green tea regularly leads to a long list of health benefits and helps you live longer. Find out more about how green tea can bring you a better and longer life.

Health Benefits of Green Tea

A study published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology found that drinking tea regularly lowered the risks of cardiovascular diseases. Beyond that, it actually reduced the risks of all causes of death, allowing tea drinkers to live longer lives.

Green tea is rich in polyphenols, especially catechins. Much of the health benefits come from these properties. It is also has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects, which also account for much of its potential to bring health and longevity.

Heart Disease and Stroke

The research demonstrated that drinking green tea regularly can lower and delay your risk of heart disease and stroke by 20 percent or more.

Compared with never or non-habitual tea drinkers, habitual tea consumers had a 20% lower risk of incident heart disease and stroke, 22% lower risk of fatal heart disease and stroke, and 15% decreased risk of all-cause death.

Metabolic Markers

A review of studies on green tea also showed that green tea has a marked positive impact on a few different metabolic markers.

Drinking green tea lowers blood sugar, providing a potential way to control type 2 diabetes.

People looking to lose weight also benefit from drinking tea. It positively impacts appetite, inflammation, and blood sugar, all of which can impact weight loss.

Aging

Another important benefit of drinking tea is found for seniors. It can protect both your brain and your muscles. As you age, it becomes critical to care for your cognitive functions, as risks for dementia and Alzheimer’s goes up as you age. Green tea has neuroprotective components. Similarly, it becomes more difficult to maintain muscle mass as you age, leading to sarcopenia in many older adults. Drinking green helps seniors stay strong as they get older.

Cancers

Drinking green tea can help lower the risk of certain cancers.

How Often Should I Drink Green Tea?

“The protective effects of tea were most pronounced among the consistent habitual tea drinking group,” the study authors shared. This is because your body does not store polyphenols long term. In order to use and maintain the benefits from the polyphenol in green tea, you must drink it regularly, at least 3 times a week.

Drinking too much green tea can lead to negative effects, like stomach pain and diarrhea. You should also know that drinking bottled teas or bubble teas will likely mean sugar, artificial sweeteners, or other additives that will counterbalance the benefits. Brew your own green tea.

Difference Between Black and Green Tea

Both are made from the leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis, but are processed differently. The simplest explanation is that tea leaves are oxidized to create black tea, but the leaves are not oxidized to create green tea. That means that after the tea leaves are harvested, the leaves are exposed to oxygen to create black tea. Like an apple or avocado slice, the exposure to oxygen causes the leaves to brown. On the other hand, leaves for green tea are immediately heated after harvest to prevent oxidization. This difference is what causes the disparity in color, flavor, and polyphenols.

By drinking green tea, you can lower your risk of many different diseases and conditions while also extending your probability of living a long life. Not only that, green tea can also help you mind and body stay strong as you age.

However, an occasional mug of tea will not significantly benefit you. Instead you must drink tea regularly. To increase longevity drink green tea three times a week.