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Blended Teas for the Holidays

Archive for the ‘Cholesterol’ Category

PostHeaderIcon Green Tea and Weight Loss

Green tea and weight loss are starting to appear in the same sentence on the lips of many people these days. Yes, it’s long been used to aid digestion, but recent studies have shown that using green tea for weight loss is also an excellent way to go. With both the fat burning and antioxidants green tea contains, it provides a healthy way to lose weight.

Green tea contains Cathechin polyphenol, which is a compound that speeds up fat burning. This same compound is proven to increase metabolism in the body. Increased metabolism enhances the effect of dieting and exercising. Traditional green tea also has caffeine, which is nature’s fat burner. However, there are also varieties of caffeine-free green tea available.

Green tea and weight Loss come together in another way due to the tea’s ability to lower cholesterol. In order to do this, the bad cholesterol, known as low-density lipoproteins or LDL, which is a huge contributor to obesity and heart disease is lowered. LDL leaves deposits on the arteries that interfere with blood flow, which leads to heart attacks, strokes and more. Green tea helps with this.

When using green tea for weight loss, keep in mind that it regulates the body’s glucose levels. This is done by blocking amylase, which is an enzyme that helps in making starches absorbable in the body. It’s important to note that there are other foods that do this, too, and they aren’t 100 percent effective. Green tea may not be 100 percent effective either.

The leaves of green tea keep most of their green hue because their fermentation is slight.  But it’s not clear whether or not green tea and weight loss drugs are safe to take together. Therefore, if you’re on any medications, be sure to speak to your doctor before beginning a regimen of green tea drinking.

You should also consider that green tea for weight loss is only a supplement to weight loss programs. The best ways to maintain the weight you want is through a healthy diet and good exercise routine. If you plan to use green tea in your weight loss program, consult a professional about which products can be safely used in conjunction with green tea.

When used in dietary supplement capacity, green tea and weight loss products follow different regulations than conventional drugs. Some products may have additives like starch, gluten, sugar and silica. These can be harmful to your health. To avoid this, stick to GMP-compliant products without artificial flavors or colors.

PostHeaderIcon Lower Cholesterol Without Medication With Green Tea

If you’re one of the millions of people that have issues with high cholesterol, you may be interested in knowing that there is a way to lower cholesterol without medication. This can be exciting news particularly to people that don’t like taking lots of chemicals. Don’t despair, though, because there’s now a way to lower cholesterol naturally. This means that there are no drugs involved, which will also save you a lot of money.

By now, you’re probably wondering just what this miracle is that can help you lower cholesterol without drugs. Oddly enough, the answer to your dilemma is green tea. That’s right. Just drinking 3 to 4 cups of green tea daily can actually lower cholesterol without medication. So many will benefit from this knowledge because it’s not only a way to lower your cholesterol, but you’ll also have the advantage of being provided with all of the other health benefits that are a part of green tea.

Not only can you lower your cholesterol naturally with green tea but your immune system, metabolism and energy level will all be boosted by the many vitamins and minerals that are also a part of green tea’s ingredients. However, if your cholesterol is running high, you’re most likely more interested in how green tea works to lower cholesterol without medication. Studies suggest that the antioxidant properties present in green tea work to lower cholesterol naturally. In doing this, it also prevents blood clots from forming while also lowering blood pressure.

When you can lower cholesterol without drugs through the use of green tea, you’re turning in a healthier direction to become heart healthy. As complete blockage of an artery through the buildup of cholesterol will cause a heart attack, it’s easy to understand why it’s so important that cholesterol is reduced. Green tea has been shown to lower all cholesterol while raising HDL, or good, cholesterol in humans as well as animals.

Now that you have a way to lower cholesterol without medication, you may have more hope of being able to accomplish this more effectively as well as safer. Just think: Rather than spending an exorbitant amount of money on prescription drugs to lower your cholesterol, you can now sit down and enjoy a relaxing cup of green tea. You also don’t have to worry about all of the nasty and dangerous side effects that can come from drugs. Everything can be accomplished naturally, instead.

PostHeaderIcon Green Tea – Healthy, Wealthy and Wise

Green Tea – Healthy, Wealthy and Wise

It is not always that we are so fortunate that something we enjoy is good for us. How lucky we are that green tea fits that role so well!

The role of green tea in promoting health has been much in the news in the last few years. There is ample evidence that, consumed in moderation, green tea indeed does aid many aspects of functioning. Some of these benefits have been known for over a thousand years.

The polyphenols, flavonoids and even caffeine (in moderate quantities) present in green tea are all known to help the body protect itself. Green tea helps lower cholesterol (the ‘bad’ kind), absorbs free radicals that can damage cell membranes and reduces the prospect of certain cancers.

Despite Federal FDA denials, many studies lend strong support to those who tout green tea’s benefits. Black tea, as well, has most of the same benefits.

But green tea has many virtues beyond the medicinal. It tastes delightful and provides a relaxing form of enjoyment in a hectic world.

Just as with black or Oolong tea, green tea comes from the leaves of an evergreen called Camellia Sinensis. They are plucked, then processed. But unlike black tea, green tea leaves do not go through a long oxidation process.

Instead, green tea leaves are steamed, which retains the EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) antioxidants. Black and Oolong teas undergo ‘fermentation’ which converts the EGCG into other compounds. ‘Fermentation’ in tea, despite the use of the same word, is not the same process as in winemaking. No sugars are converted to alcohol. It’s simply a synonym for oxidation, more or less.

As a result, the tea flavor is much more delicate and the aroma and taste retain much more of the ‘vegetative’ quality from the original bush. That flavor is enjoyed in a hundred varieties by tea drinkers the world over.

The Long Jing tea from Hang Zhou in China, pan dried and flat in appearance, often goes by the name Dragon Well. This green tea is among the most common drinks in China. Yet for all its commonality, it makes a fine brew. The Gyokuro, also known as Jewel Dew as a consequence of its color, is another fine green tea from China.

The Ryokucha from Japan is a green tea that is so common there that a form of the word (ocha) is often taken to mean simply ‘tea’. Connoisseurs regard the green tea from the Uji region of Kyoto to be among the finest. Matcha is a powdered green tea once used primarily in tea ceremonies. Now it is so popular throughout Japan and elsewhere that it finds its way into ice cream and other sweets.

Gunpowder, which has nothing to do with the explosive, is another popular variety. The leaves are rolled into tiny pellets, making for a very intense infusion. Its muscatel overtones make for a wonderful brew.

There is even a green tea-style Earl Grey. Though without the heady flavor of the more common black tea type, the bergamot oil combines well with green tea.

So if you have always been a committed black tea drinker, it’s time to open up your horizons. It may not make you wealthy, but it can give you enjoyment and promote your health. And isn’t that very wise?