CHOLESTEROL DIET SECRETS

One of the most significant studies ever conducted on tea was done by the Tohoku University in Japan. The results of this study were published in the Journal of American Medical Association in September 2006. Researchers tracked more than 40,000 participants aged 40 to 79 years. Their death rates and the causes of their death were analyzed over a period of 11 years. Researchers found that women who drink more than 5 cups of green tea a day cut their risk of heart disease by 31% compared to women who did not. For the male, their risk of heart disease is reduced by 22%. This study shows that (1) there is a link between drinking green tea and lowering of the risk of heart disease, and (2) women tend to benefit more from drinking green tea than the men.

The conclusion of the Tohoku study is of little surprise, reason being that tea leaves contains powerful antioxidants known as catechins, and antioxidants are substances that protect our body against free radical damages. Free radicals are believed to be responsible for cancers growth and hardening of cholesterol, causing artery blockage  that leads to the onset of heart attacks and strokes. It is possible that regular consumption of green tea arms our body with powerful antioxidants necessary to fight the bad cholesterols.

With tea being the number one beverage excluding water consumed by the world, it is all the more important for we as consumers to be aware that not all tea products are made the same. Neither do they all have the same antioxidant benefits.

Tea leaves are processed in different ways, resulting in different colors (green, black and red) as well as aromas. Unfortunately, the catechins antioxidants inside tea leaves are destroyed during processing. Thus, the least processed the tea leaves are, the higher the antioxidant contents. For this reason, green tea contains the greatest amount of antioxidants, while black tea has the least. The reverse is true, however, in terms of their aroma and caffeine contents. This is why green tea is usually consumed for health reasons, while those who like a stronger tea would choose English Breakfast, Earl Grey and Ceylon Tea. Recently, many different flavors of black tea products have surfaced in the market, such as vanilla, apple, mango, peach, passion fruit.. and the list goes on. Some of these are chemically-scented, which is clearly not healthy if consumed regularly. Therefore, please read the package labels carefully before purchasing flavored teas.

While drinking tea is good generally, however, over consumption is not recommended because of the caffeine. A cup of tea contains an average of 40mg of caffeine, which is roughly half of the amount found in a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Over consumption of caffeine may cause nausea, diarrhea, palpitation of the heart, anxiety and stress for the body. Experts advised people to moderate their caffeine consumption so as not to exceed 300 mg a day (roughly 4 cups of coffee or 8 cups of tea).

Finally, if you think that herbal tea would provide the same benefit minus the caffeine, read on. By herbal tea, I mean chamomile (for relaxation), peppermint (for digestion), ginger (for queasy stomach) and ginseng (for mental alertness). These infusions are brewed out of herbs, flowers, roots and other parts of plants, and not made of tea leaves. Therefore, while herbal infusions have their unique benefits to offer, they do not provide our body with any catechins antioxidants to fight free radical damages. At the same time, there is still no conclusive evidence to show that drinking herbal infusions could lower our risk of heart diseases.