Green tea, which is the products made from Camellia sinensis leaves, is one of the varieties of tea, alongside with black tea and oolong tea. While it is originates from China, but right in the moment you can find it all around the world. Green tea, which is commonly served as a beverage, also has a very good reputation to cure and protect you from various kinds of disease.
One of the most common questions among the societies is whether green tea would be beneficial for diabetic people or not. The answer to that question is yes, definitely that green tea would be very useful to protect you from diabetes. Before we tell you about why green tea is so beneficial for diabetic people, firstly, we need to know what is diabetes and what are the types of diabetes.
Definition of Diabetes and Its Types
Diabetes is a disease that can occur because of the high levels of blood sugar (glucose) in your body. The blood sugars in your body are commonly regulated by the insulin hormone, which is produced by the pancreas. In a diabetic person, pancreas couldn’t produce the insulin hormone in a proper amount or there is a problem with how the body cells’ respond to it.
There are two types of diabetes, which are diabetes type 1 and diabetes type 2.
- Diabetes type 1. This type of diabetes could occur when the pancreas stops producing insulin hormone, and this type of diabetes is unpreventable. The only way to treat this type of diabetes is by daily injection of insulin.
- Diabetes type 2. This type of diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. This type of diabetes could occur because of your unhealthy lifestyle such as insufficient physical activity, poor diet, and obesity. Long term effects of type 2 diabetes is very dangerous for your health, even very deadly.
Reasons on Why Green Tea is Very Beneficial For Diabetics People
As already mentioned above, green tea is a very healthy beverage which can be very useful for everyone of you who suffers from diabetes. Here are the reasons on why green tea could be beneficial for diabetic people.
1. Green Tea Contain EGCG Catechins
First Reasons why green tea is best for diabetes Patients is its EGCG Catechins. Â Some studies evidence that green tea contains certain types of flavonoid called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG catechins), which is essential to burn your fat and increase the fat oxidation. Since an excess fat in your body is one of the main problems that leads to diabetes, this EGCG catechins compound is very important for your body. This EGCG catechins will maintain and protect your vascular muscle cells from the high glucose levels. In addition to that, EGCG catechins will also improve the tolerance against glucose and also change the glucose and lipids metabolism in the body, in a good way of course, which will make you become avoided from diabetes type 1.
EGCG catechins also beneficial to protect you from diabetes type 2. This EGCG catechins will inhibit the digestive enzymes which then will reduce the production of glucose from carbohydrate. That accident will make the glucose levels become lower than before which then will avoid you from diabetes type 2.
A study conducted at the Health Care Food Research Laboratories in Japan evidence that green tea which contains higher catechins compound will reduce the obesity and improved the blood glucose control in the patients who suffering from diabetes type 2. In that research, patients divided into two groups, one group consume green tea that contain 582.3 mg of catechins and the other one consume green tea with 96.3 mg of catechins on a daily routine for 12 weeks.
The result after 12 weeks shown that the group who consume green tea with higher catechins have a more significant decrease in waist circumference and also have higher levels of adiponectin hormone, which is the hormone that responsible to lowering the fat accumulation. This is the evidence that catechins can lowering the risk of diabetes type 2.
2. Green Tea Could Stimulate the Production of Insulin
When you are suffering from diabetes type 1, your body is unable to produce the insulin that leads to high blood sugar levels. Some studies evidence that green tea could stimulate your body to produce insulin, which then will controlling your sugar levels and transform the nutrients from the food that you just ate into an energy.
In addition to that, green tea will also help your body to maximize the functions of the pancreas, which is very important to produce an insulin. Some studies also suggest that green tea could protect the pancreatic beta cells from any damages.
There was a research conducted by Richard Anderson from BHNRC on laboratory rats. That research evidenced that the insulin activity would rise more than 15 times when the green tea was added to the fat cells of the rats. Beside that, the rats who given the green tea also showed improvement in all of the metabolic defects and they can maintain the blood pressure.
3. Green Tea Prevent You From Obesity
Since obesity become one of the main reasons why diabetes type 2 can occur, green tea is definitely one of the most effective beverage to consume. Green tea can lower your fatty acids and triglyceride levels which will control the obesity and will prevent any complications that may arrive around people with obesity problem.
In addition to that, the EGCG catechins that contained in green tea also played a vital role to protect you from obesity. This compound will boost the metabolism cycle and reduce your appetite. According to some studies, two to four cups of green tea will burn your calories up to 80 per day, which will increase the rate of your metabolism and enables you to exercise with more endurance. This green tea will also stimulate the nervous system that triggers the fat burning process.
4. Green Tea Could Protect You From Hyperglycaemia
Some studies evidence that green tea could protect your body from hyperglycaemia. Hyperglycaemia alongside with glucose intolerance is the main reasons why diabetes can occur to people.
Hyperglycemia, if we left it untreated, will release the oxidative stress which will leads to some problems, such as diabetic retinopathy. This diabetic retinopathy will lead to blindness if you’re not treating it as soon as possible.
A study conducted in Brazil explored the benefits of green tea to protect the retina in rats which suffers from diabetes. Researchers gave the green tea to diabetic rats constantly for 12 weeks. The result of that study is that the green tea could protect the rats’ retina from any disease caused by diabetes, specifically from neurodegeneration disorders such as diabetic retinopathy.
5. Green Tea Contains Polyphenols
Everybody knows that green tea contains polyphenols. Polyphenols in a green tea is an antioxidant which has anti-diabetic properties. This anti-diabetic properties will inhibit the oxidative stress and increase the glucose tolerance. Thus, the polyphenols in green tea can help you to control the diabetes.
There is a study conducted in China. The research mainly focused on the specific effects of polyphenols contained in green tea to avoid you from diabetes. Researchers gave the green tea’s polyphenols on fat deposit of rats fed a high-fat diet.
Researchers added three different dosages of green tea’s polyphenols in the rats’ drinking water. The result of that research was, they observed that the polyphenols contained in a green tea is truly beneficial to reduce the fat deposits and also reduce the adiponectin levels. Adiponectin is a protein that has an important role in lipid and glucose metabolism.
6. Green Tea Maintain Your Blood Sugar Levels
Diabetes is commonly related to the uncontrollable rise of blood sugar levels. By consuming green tea, the production of adrenaline hormone that can cause the rise in blood sugar levels will be reduced. Green tea is widely known for its ability to stimulate the metabolism, as well as improve your immune system which means that there is more energy and blood for use by the brain.
Thus, you will be more energetic and can relax better than before. This relaxing condition will prevent you from any symptoms associated with stress, depression, or anxiety. Lowered levels of stress will be very important for the people who suffering from diabetes since their psychological system is already under the pressure and strain.
If the levels of stress are lower than before, it means that the adrenaline hormones will be diminished and therefore, your blood sugar levels will be maintained. In addition to that, EGCG catechins that contained in a green tea would lower your blood sugar levels.
Consumption Tips on Green Tea for Diabetics People
 For everyone of you who suffers from diabetes, you need to give an attention to this consumption tips, so you will get the full benefits of green tea after you consume it.
- Drink for About 4 Cups of Green Tea per Day
Studies have shown that if you want to drink green tea as a natural treatment for your health problems, including diabetes, you need to take the polyphenols for about 200 up to 1000 mg per day for the best result and a speedy recovery. Polyphenols values can vary between 5 mg up to 180 mg per cup. So, you need to consume 4 or 5 cups of green tea for the best result.
- Keep it Less Sugar
Adding cream, milk, or sugar into your green tea is a very bad idea, especially for people who suffering from diabetes. Adding a sugar into your green tea will destroy any weight loss benefits that you could earn by drinking this healthy beverage.
- Drink Green Tea in the Morning
You should prefer to start your day with a cup of green tea instead of a cup of coffee. Green tea has very low amounts of caffeine compared with coffee, which is good for your body. Also, green tea has low amounts of calories and can fill up your stomach, which will prevent you to eat at the huge portions throughout the day. Green tea also has one main important reason on why you must drink it in the morning, it is because green tea can stimulate the metabolism in your body.
- Balance Your Green Tea Habits with Other Healthy Activities
You can’t expect the green tea alone would cure or protect your body from any diseases associated with diabetes if you’re not balancing it with the healthy lifestyle. If you want to cure or protect yourself from diabetes, you should combine your habits of drinking green tea with consuming other healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other low-fat dairy products, alongside doing some sports of course.
Green Tea Precautions and Warnings
Green tea is a beverage that can offer you a lot of benefits for your health. Some studies indicate that green tea is very safe to consume if you take it in moderate amounts. However, if you drinking green tea too much, for example more than 5 cups per day, it might cause some side effects for your body, mainly because of its caffeine compound. Here are some precautions and warnings for diabetic people who want to consume green tea to improve their health.
- Pregnancy and Brest-Feeding Women
This precaution is for every pregnant woman who consume green tea more than 2 cups per day because when you consume it in small amounts, for example about 2 cups per day, you will be fine. Consuming green tea more than 2 cups per day has been linked to the serious problems during pregnancy such as miscarriage or birth defects because green tea contains caffeine, catechins, and tannic acid, which are three substances that widely know for its unfriendliness for pregnant women.
- Beware of Too Much Caffeine Resulted From Drinking Green Tea
Green tea contains small amounts of caffeine, approximately half the amounts of caffeine that contained in a coffee. So, it is safe to consume green tea as long as you don’t drink it over-frequently throughout the day because excessive in consume everything, even the healthy ones, is not good for your body. If you drink it over-frequently, it means that you also consume too much caffeine, which for some people will lead to various symptoms like sleeping problem, loss of appetite, tremor, skin rash, nausea, and frequent urination.
- Beware If You Have a Sensitive Stomach
This is the common upset that you would likely to get after caffeine. You’re not recommended to consume green tea if you have a history from irritable bowel syndrome or frequent diarrhea because if you drink it, you will be most likely to suffer an abdominal pain. In addition to that, since green tea and any other tea can stimulate the gastric acid, you’re not recommended to drink a cup of green tea as your first meal in the morning because it will lead you to nausea disease.
- Avoid to Consume it Right After You’re Taking a Medication
This is one of the most important things you need to be aware of. Like any other tea beverages, green tea could also interfere with certain medication. A caffeine compound in a green tea is pretty dangerous if it has an interaction with medication. Caffeine will increase your heart rate and leads you to other dangerous problems. So, you should avoid consuming green tea for at least 2 hours after you’re taking a medication.
Read More :  Is Tea Good for Diabetes Patient – Benefits of Okra for Diabetes – Benefits of Brown Rice – Health Benefits of Bhutanese Red Rice
So, now you already know that green tea is very friendly for everyone of you who suffers from diabetes. But, please do notice that you just can’t rely on green tea alone to cure or protect you from diabetes, because you will also need to have a healthy lifestyle. Green tea might can’t cure your diabetes instantly, but it would be very beneficial to reduce diabetes symptoms and its possibility from getting worse.