by Susan Doyle
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by Susan Doyle
Your tip for April 16, 2008
7 REASONS TO DRINK GREEN TEA
The steady stream of good news about green tea is getting so hard to
ignore that even java junkies are beginning to sip mugs of the
deceptively delicate brew. You'd think the daily dose of
disease-fighting, inflammation-squelching antioxidants--long linked
with heart protection--would be enough incentive, but wait, there's
more! Lots more.
CUT YOUR CANCER RISK
Several polyphenols - the potent antioxidants green tea's famous for -
seem to help keep cancer cells from gaining a foothold in the body,
by discouraging their growth and then squelching the creation of new
blood vessels that tumors need to thrive. Study after study has found
that people who regularly drink green tea reduce their risk of
breast, stomach, esophagus, colon, and/or prostate cancer.
SOOTHE YOUR SKIN
Got a cut, scrape, or bite, and a little leftover green tea? Soak a
cotton pad in it. The tea is a natural antiseptic that relieves
itching and swelling. Try it on inflamed breakouts and blemishes,
sunburns, even puffy eyelids. And that's not all. In the lab, green
tea helps block sun-triggered skin cancer, whether you drink it or
apply it directly to the skin - which is why you're seeing green tea
in more and more sunscreens and moisturizers.
STEADY YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE
Having healthy blood pressure - meaning below 120/80 - is one thing.
Keeping it that way is quite another. But people who sip just half a
cup a day are almost 50 percent less likely to wind up with
hypertension 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.
PROTECT YOUR MEMORY, OR YOUR MOM'S
Green tea may also keep the brain from turning fuzzy. Getting-up-
there adults who drink at least two cups a day are half as likely to
develop cognitive problems as those who drink less. Why? 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.
STAY YOUNG
The younger and healthier your arteries are, the younger and
healthier you are. So fight plaque build-up in your blood vessels,
which ups the risk of heart disease and stroke, adds years to your
biological age (or RealAge), and saps your energy too. How much green
tea does this vital job take? About 10 ounces a day, which also
deters your body from absorbing artery-clogging fat and cholesterol.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Turns out that green tea speeds up your
body's calorie-burning process. In the every-little-bit-counts
department, this is good news! Good friends are hard to find, harder
to leave, and impossible to forget.
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