I'll Have a Green Tea Please!

I've recently come to the conclusion that green tea (as well as white tea, black tea, rooibos, etc) makes me feel good. I'm not entirely sure why though. Maybe, its the relatively modest amount of caffeine, the cancer fighting anti-oxidants or.. maybe it's all in my head.

Either way, anything that makes you healthier and feel both physically and mentally supercharged is a good thing in my books. While I wont deny the fact the green tea is good for you, I can't help but wonder why it makes me feel so great. The greater part of me is leaning towards a placebo effect, and that's ok, as there are plenty of studies showing that often, placebos are more effective then the drugs themselves. The brain is mighty powerful thing.

In fact, stress, anxiety, depression and pretty much every state of mind has an effect on your physical health. The chemicals released by the brain and body during a certain mood do more than just make you feel good or bad. They also effect the functions of your organs, cardiovascular system and more or less, every physical aspect of your body. So, if you can create more positive, less stressed states of mind, you do your body nothing but good.

That being said, green tea is my mood booster, and in turn, my health booster!

So what exactly is in green tea that makes it good for you?

Its the wonderful little catechins that create most of the magic. Catechins are powerful anti-oxidants, surpassing even vitamin C and E for the ability to prevent oxidative damage. That's good news, but there's more. Catechins are also known to have powerful anti-angiogenic properties.

Anti-angio..what now?

Angiogenesis is the process in which new blood vessels are grown to help feed cancer and fat cells. By consuming anti-angiogenic foods you not only reduce the risk of a cancer cell growing out of control (which is important because our bodies are filled with inactive cancer cells!) but may also reduce the bodies ability to develop new fatty tissue. Cool.

Some studies suggest that consuming 3-4 cups of green tea each day may reduce high blood pressure by as much as 60%. If you suffer from high blood pressure and take medications, I want you to think about this for a second. Consuming a couple cups of green tea each day will not only help to prevent obesity and cancer, but may also allow you to be free of medications. Double cool!

Now, for all you soda drinkers out there, consider this. If you drink a couple of cans of soda each day, you are possibly A) addicted to caffeine or B) addicted to sugar. Try drinking a glass of soda that has sat out on the counter all day. I'd be willing to bet you'll find it gross. Its too sweet. You need the carbonation to offset the sweetness. There's no need to drink that much sugar. Its a silly drink. You might as well drink arsenic or gasoline.

Replacing that soda with green tea will not only cut your daily calorie count by up to a few hundred calories, but It will also help to prevent heart disease and diabetes as apposed to promoting them (like soda does).

Now, get out there and buy some fresh green tea. Its cheap, healthy and with a few add-ins extremely delicious! It might just become your feel good drink too.