Green tea, along with black tea are two of the most widely consumed variety of teas on Earth. In fact, a number of green tea variants are regarded as the healthiest beverage there is on Earth. It is very rich with antioxidants, nutrients and other goodness that serve various parts of the body.
Green tea itself is much more popular in Asia, whereas black tea is popular across the world, including in Asia. At this article, we will be learning more about green tea, its health benefits, and of course the health benefits of green tea for joint pain.
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An Introduction to Green Tea
Green tea is native to China and India; however, its consumption has reached Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia before it gained some popularity in the western world. Green tea itself was originally prepared as a remedy drink.
Actually, green tea, together with black tea and oolong tea come from the “Camellia sinensis” plant. However, green tea stands out among other tea types because the leaves are left unfermented, so that they contain the highest concentration of antioxidants. Green tea is also considered as a “superfood” because of having more healing compounds than many other types of fruits, vegetables, herbs as well as spices.
There are many types of green tea, with the most popular ones coming from Japan and China. Japanese green tea types include sencha, matcha, genmaicha, gyokuro, kabusecha, tencha, hojicha, and fukamuchi sencha. Meanwhile, several Chinese green tea types are gunpowder tea, biluochun, chun mee, huangshan maofeng, longjing, taiping houkui, Xinyang maojian, as well as lu’an melon seed tea.
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Nutritional Facts of Green Tea
This is the nutritional fact of matcha green tea.
- Serving Size – 1 teaspoon
- Calories – 3
- Total Fat – 0 g (0% of DV)
- Saturated Fat – 0 g (0% of DV)
- Polyunsaturated Fat – 0 g (0% of DV)
- Monounsaturated Fat – 0 g (0% of DV)
- Trans Fat – 0 g (0% of DV)
- Cholesterol – 0 mg (0% of DV)
- Potassium – 27 mg (0% of DV)
- Sodium – 0 mg (0% of DV)
- Total Carbohydrates – 0 g (0% of DV)
- Dietary Fibre – 0 g (0% of DV)
- Sugar – 0 g (0% of DV)
- Protein – 0 g (0% of DV)
- Vitamins and Minerals
- Vitamin A – 6%
- Vitamin C – 3%
- Calcium – 0%
- Iron – 0%
All the information above are in relation to a 2,000-calorie diet. The percentage of daily value (% of DV) may differ depending on personal calorie needs.
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What are its Health Benefits?
Here are the health benefits of green tea for joint pain:
- Green Tea Heals Joint Pain
Green tea is good for joint pain, particularly arthritis because it has polyphenols. Polyphenols are antioxidants that are believed to slow down both inflammation as well as cartilage destruction. The second antioxidant found in green tea, the epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) stops the production of molecules that leads to joint damages in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
- Green Tea Halts Cancer Development
Again, the polyphenols of green tea are also proven effective in preventing cancer development by killing the cancerous cells one by one. Green tea is known to be able to halt the development of breast, bladder, ovarian, colon, esophageal or throat, lung, prostate, stomach as well as skin cancers.
- Green Tea is Wonderful for Cardiovascular Health
A 1994 study that gathered over 40,000 Japanese participants aged 40 to 79 years old was done for 11 years. The participants, who were instructed to drink at least 5 cups of green tea per day had much lower risks of cardiovascular diseases compared to those who don’t consume it at all. This became possible due to catechins plus polyphenolic compounds that protects the cardiovascular system.
- Green Tea Lowers Cholesterol
A 2011 analysis discovered that consuming any forms of green tea, whether it is brewed or extracts packed in capsules are linked to substantial decline in low density lipoprotein (LDL) or the negative cholesterol.
- Green Tea Minimizes Risks of Stroke
The journal “Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association” found out that consuming green tea and coffee regularly minimizes the risk of stroke. In addition, the author of the journal stated that one is able to do a simple yet positive lifestyle change to help lower risks of stroke just by adding green tea into their everyday diet.
- Green Tea is Helpful for Type 2 Diabetes Patients
Type 2 diabetes is a category of diabetes mellitus in which the way the body processes blood sugar becomes altered. As a result, the body either cannot produce enough insulin or resist it in all. Studies have indicated that there are lower risks of developing type 2 diabetes for regular green tea consumers.
- Green Tea Leads to Weight Loss
Green tea is a traditional solution for weight loss. In fact, Chinese green tea is drunk after every meal to enhance the absorption of fat and oil from the food being consumed, so that one could effectively manage his or her weight. This could come in handy for any overweight or even obese person.
- Green Tea Works on Inflammatory-caused Dermatological Diseases
Inflammatory caused skin diseases can happen due to an excess production in skin cells, as one can see in the cases of dandruff plus psoriasis. It also makes the skin dry, red, and flaky. Animal tests with green tea proved that it is able to slow down their production of skin cells.
- Green Tea Improves Cognitive Function
Previous research as published in the journal “Psychopharmalogy” suggested that green tea improves cognitive function, especially when it comes to memory. It could also work on treating cognitive impairments associated with neuropsychiatric disorders, such as dementia.
- Green Tea is Useful for Alzheimer’s Disease Patients
A study back in 2011 tested the effect of a green tea compound after it has been digested, to see how it affects a key protein on Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Society commented that even if it may help Alzheimer’s disease, the green tea compound being used was of a higher dose. A similar test that uses lower doses of green tea compound is needed to verify this finding universally.