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Green Tea:
Metabolic Enhancer, Life Extender,
Cancer Eradicator?

Written By Andrea Lewis
Edited By Alena Craig

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Much ado has been made of green tea in last decade. It's been called everything from a weight watcher's best-friend to a cancer cure. But is any of this true?

The history of green tea is long and illustrious; originating from China, it has been associated with many cultures in Asia from Japan to the Middle East. There is archaeological evidence that it has been consumed for almost 5000 years, with China and India, respectively, being the first two countries to cultivate it. Green tea has been used as traditional medicine in those countries as well as Japan and Thailand to help everything from controlling bleeding and helping to heal wounds to regulating body temperature, blood sugar and promoting digestion.

Over the last few decades green tea has begun to be subjected to many scientific and medical studies to determine the extent of its long-purported health benefits, with some evidence suggesting regular green tea drinkers may have lower chances of heart disease and developing certain types of cancer.

This comes as no surprise to those who know the history of green tea from reading ancient tomes such as The Kissa Yojoki (Book of Tea), written by Zen priest Eisai in 1191, which describes how drinking green tea can have a positive effect on the five vital organs, especially the heart. The book also discusses the tea's other medicinal qualities, which include easing the effects of alcohol, acting as a stimulant, curing blotchiness, quenching thirst, eliminating indigestion, curing beriberi disease, preventing fatigue, and improving urinary and brain function.

The Kissa Yojoki was written more than 800 years ago, but the same claims and more profound ones are still being made today. Green tea has been credited with stopping certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, the prevention and treatment of cancer and multiple sclerosis, preventing the degradation of cell membranes by neutralizing the spread of free radicals which occur during oxidation process, reducing the negative effects of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) by lowering levels of triglycerides and increasing the production of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol), increasing fat oxidation (when the body uses fat as energy) and raising metabolism. Even noted New York nutritionist, Joy Bauer, says [the catechins in green tea] increase levels of metabolism speeding brain chemical norepinephrine (noradrenalin). Japanese researchers claim that drinking five cups of green tea a day can burn 70 to 80 extra calories a day. Dr. Nicholas Perricone, an anti-aging specialist, appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and told Oprah's viewers that they could lose 10 lbs. in 6 weeks by drinking green tea instead of coffee. (Continued on page 2)

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