Are you wondering if there are any health benefits to green tea?

Before you ask yourself what the most common green tea benefits are, consider the fact that a much better question would be, “What health benefits does the tea not have?” Think about it – can you name any other food or drink that has been said to be as healthy and beneficial as green tea? The tea has been used for both medicinal and nutritional purposes in Asia for more than 4,000 years, and that has to say something about the many possible benefits of drinking green tea.

Thanks to its recent popularity and massive amounts of media coverage, a lot of scientific studies have been and are currently being done on the health benefits of green tea. Of course, most of the recent coverage has revolved around the idea that drinking green tea or taking green tea supplements and extracts can significantly help people lose weight – and that is certainly true. However, when it comes to green tea benefits, weight loss is far from the only thing that the tea may be able to help.

Studies have been done, for example, that show that drinking green tea may have a positive affect on oral cancer – not to mention reducing the risk of being diagnosed with it. Other studies show that a certain compound found within the tea may inhibit the growth and spreading of cancerous cells. Still other studies have suggested that not only can green tea lower cholesterol levels quite substantially, but drinking it can also improve the ratio of good cholesterol versus bad cholesterol.

Not only that, but there are strong suggestions out there that other green tea health benefits include its ability to help people with rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, impaired immune systems, cardiovascular problems, liver disease, and heart disease, not to mention helping with infections in general.

Why are there so many benefits of green tea? Well, for starters, most teas contain polyphenols known as catechins. Green tea, however, goes through a different process when being made into tea leaves, so where other teas go through extensive fermentation processes which can reduce the amount of catechins, green tea is not fermented. As such, it is considered the most catechin rich of all teas available. So, why then are these catechins such a big deal? Because they are antioxidants, and antioxidants are the biggest nemeses of certain free radicals that can damage or kill cells and even alter DNA and genetic information.

Mind you, these are just the health benefits of green tea that are known to date. With more and more studies being conducted all over the world, who knows how many more benefits scientists may discover?