‘Green tea’ originates from China and it is made of camellia sinesis.

It is packed with potent medicinal and other health benefits.

Green tea contains an extremely strong anti-oxidant called EGCG or Epigallocatechin gallate which destroys and prevents growth of cancer cells.

It is very helpful in relieving rheumatoid arthrits, cardiovascular disease and reduces LDL cholesterol levels. It boosts immunity, helps in detox process, improves digestion and weight loss.

So yes, to answer your question. This drink is the best thing in liquid form since Socrates proclaimed olive oil was liquid gold! But lets examine these weight loss and appetite suppression benefits a little bit closer shall we

Green Tea And Weight Loss

This drink is an excellent detoxifier. It works by getting rid of accumulated fats and toxins from the body resulting in weight loss. Triglycerides are excess fats stored in the liver and small intestine to be used as a source of energy.

Triglyceride is important for the proper functioning of the body however an excess of this hard to pronounce component can lead to weight gain and even obesity. ‘Green tea’ dissolves and flushes out the triglycerides with the quickness resulting in weight loss.

Also, ‘green tea’ works as a great ‘appetite suppressant’. It reduces the appetite and hunger pangs making the whole weight loss process easier. And here is how:

Green Tea As Appetite Suppressant

This tea is very effective in reducing appetite which aids in weight loss process. It reduces the cravings and hunger pangs which are very helpful to lose weight effectively. Stimulants present in green tea like Theophylline, theobromine and caffeine suppress your hungry tummy without causing any side effects. AWESOME!

Similarly, ECGC or Epigallocatechin gallate boosts the metabolic system which increases the energy levels and lowers the appetite causing weight loss. It increases the stamina and the ability to exercise better and longer helping in fat burning.

The Hunger Hormone

Green tea increases Chloecystokinin or CCK hormone production which is released in the intestines after meals. It acts as a signal to the brain conveying the message that your body has consumed an adequate amount of food.

The release of this hormone suppresses your appetite by giving a feeling of fullness.

Regulates Blood Sugar

Green tea regulates blood sugar levels by reducing the insulin production in the body. It helps in preventing the accumulation of fats in your body leading to the reduction of appetite.

Diet And Exercise Are Also Important

However, it is very important to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly to reduce weight naturally and effectively.

There are absolutely no green tea side effects if taken in moderation and no specific dosages to suppress appetite however people suffering from diabetes and other ailments should consult with the doctor before consuming it to avoid any unforeseen effects.

Also, pregnant, nursing women, people suffering from eating disorders and bleeding disorders should consult with their doctor before using green tea as part of their diet plan.

Healthy diet and changes in lifestyle with green tea help in fat burning without causing any adverse effects. Avoid excess consumption of alcohol, fried, processed and packaged food. Green tea is extremely effective in promoting overall health in your body.

It is best to drink green tea without sugar, low sugar or with honey as a healthier option. There are no specific dosages however 3-4 cups of it a day are adequate to reduce weight effectively.

Author Bio - Josh Veltor is an avid tea drinker. He also works at and writes guest posts for VitaNet LLC Discount Vitamin Store. 

The plant that is used to create tea originated in Central and Eastern Asia. Furthermore, tea is produced in several varieties including black, green, oolong and herbal. Tea manufacturing has evolved through its many years. The beverage originated before the birth of Christ, which is verified from the oral tradition involving Asian legend.

The legend of tea’s creation has risen above the historical record and has become a tale of folklore. Furthermore, India and China both claim to have discovered the beverage. Therefore, the actual origination is continuously up for debate.

Chinese legend

Emperor Shen Nong, a highly esteemed ruler known for his wisdom regarding herbs and medicine, commanded that his citizens boil their water before drinking it. One day, as Emperor Nong was simmering his drinking water, a wind blew several tea leaves into the boiling water.

Nong decided to try the mixture and found that he liked it. Disputes have arisen with dissenters claiming that it was leaves from a camellia branch while others have attempted to prove the tale by dating the incident.

Buddhist Account

According to the mythical Buddhist legend, the origination of tea began with a journey by Siddhartha Gautama. The founder of Buddhism traveled to China, and as a show of faith, he vowed to sacrifice sleep, but broke his promise. After waking up, he cursed his eyelids and removed them. Once the eyelids landed in the soil, they grew a tea bush, which Siddhartha ingested and found his strength replenished.

With the fanciful elements of both tales, they are most likely embellished. Historically, tea’s use as a remedy for the negative effects of alcohol caused a level of mysticism to surround the beverage. Buddhists began holding rituals involving tea, and it quickly became China’s national drink. Today, tea is still an essential element in the Asian culture.

During the eighth century, Lu Yu wrote Ch’a Ching, which was the ultimate manual for brewing tea. Yu’s guide brought continuity to tea production. Additionally, he included the materials needed to make and drink tea.

England Discovers Tea

During the 17th century, tea found its way to England. Queen Elizabeth’s interest in exotic extravagances eventually led to the first tea delivery in 1664. The East India Company retained exclusive rights to the beverage, which made it expensive and caused merchants to smuggle tea into the country illegally.

The actions of these dealers reduced the price of tea allowing the general population to enjoy the drink. Later, during the eighteenth century, tea became England’s national beverage.

Tea in America

After the colonists settled in America, they too enjoyed drinking tea. However, England began increasing the rates charged to the colonists for exporting the beverage. The colonists rebelled, which eventually brought about the Revolutionary War and the Boston Tea Party. Fortunately, once the war ended, America gained its own entrance to the Chinese tea trade.

During the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, a tea merchant, who was selling hot tea in the summer, added ice to the drink and created the first cup of ice tea. Later, in 1908, Thomas Sullivan invented the method of shipping the beverage in individual bags.

Today, tea is a drink used for relaxation, enhancing a healthy diet and socializing. Therefore, the beverage continues to enrich our daily lives.

Author Bio - Renee Varney is a freelance blogger and occasionally writes for delivery.com a site she loves using to find local Food Delivery Online – particularly Chinese Delivery.

Black tea is immensely more popular in terms of amount sold and the number of people who prefer it over other tea. Many advocates claim that since tea is generally healthy, it makes little difference which type of tea you drink.

However, there are two big reasons that it does matter.

Processing

Both green tea and black tea are made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis bush; however black tea is tremendously more processed.

The processing causes chemical changes in the leaves as they are oxidized, which naturally reduces the amount of antioxidants present. Because black tea is fully oxidized by various drying methods, very few antioxidants are present in comparison to green tea which is minimally oxidized by pulling and steaming.

People are becoming more and more aware of the tremendous benefits antioxidants provide, which include helping to prevent the development of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and even Alzheimer’s.

Natural antioxidants like those found in tea are more beneficial to the body than antioxidant supplements – various trials on supplements show very little positive effect, even though eating food high in antioxidants has been known for some time to lower the risk of major illness. Science hasn’t yet figured out how to replicate nature’s natural protection.

The truth is the amount of antioxidants in brewed green tea is quite a bit higher than the level in most food sources. This means that green tea provides health benefits that outstrip both black tea and other antioxidant rich food sources.

Caffeine

We live in a caffeine addicted world. Everyone is constantly on the go – here, there, and everywhere, rushing without stopping. People are working longer hours at more sedentary jobs, making it very difficult to stay awake.

The solution to this for a hundred years has been caffeine – daily, and lots of it. Some people are already on their third cup of coffee by the time they arrive at the office. For some others, coffee isn’t even enough – caffeine pills, high energy drinks, and caffeinated candies are incredibly common.

However, high levels of caffeine have some very negative side effects. Some of these effects are:

• Insomnia – not a great result, considering lack of rest is the original problem!
• Anxiety and Irritability
• Headache
• Fast Heartbeat
• Muscle Tremors

It’s time that we start cutting back on the rushing, the lack of exercise, and the over reliance on caffeine. An excellent way to do this is to work green tea into your diet. It has ½ the caffeine of black tea, and only ¼ the caffeine of coffee.

It can provide a small boost without sending you into insomnia, irritability, and other health problems. Take a break. Relax with a hot cup of green tea.

The bottom line is you could do a lot worse than drink black tea. But why settle when green tea is so much better for you? The antioxidants will help ward off the development of major diseases, the caffeine is lower, and you can feel good about what you are putting in your body.

Green tea can be a first step toward transforming your lifestyle for the better. So sit down, relax, and enjoy a cup!

Source: This article was written by NutraPlanet, and online discount supplements store that offers a wide variety of products. From bodybuilding supplements to health and wellness products like piracetam, NutraPlanet meets the needs for all individuals interested in fitness and health.

Today I started off with a piping hot pot of green tea to go along with my breakfast of whole wheat toast and a cantaloupe.

Is that the breakfast of champions? I have no idea but I know that it gets my body working and it sustains me until lunchtime comes around.

Between breakfast and lunch I power through two or 3 cups of green tea. That continues to give me energy and it helps me through the day.

Most of the posts in this blog go through the many benefits and advantages that green tea offers it’s consumers so I am not going to go into it in this post.

Green tea power helps me in my weightlifting workouts and it coincides nicely with my eating habits. I’m all about my whole foods diet and my weightlifting routine that has me looking right and feeling great.

One quick note on diet and exercise….

I’m not trying to sell a whole foods diet to you and I’m not trying to convince you to start a weightlifting routine.

However, you should be physically active in some way. If you get your kicks out of soccer then make a habit of it.

You should also be conscious and educated of what you eat instead of putting whatever tastes good in your mouth. Work on a balanced diet, even if you are a meat eater, to help you live a better life.

Whatever path you are taking with diet and/or exercise, green tea and the power it provides is a much better alternative than coffee or red bull.

Green tea power – G.T. caffeine Vs. Coffee caffeine

To be honest with you, I do enjoy a good cup of Joe now and then but green tea is a daily staple for me and I am a strong advocate that it should be a daily drink for more people around the world. Including you, if you’re reading this post right now.

Green tea power is real my friends. It gets you going throughout the day. It helps speed up your metabolism. It prevents and helps your body fight off numerous diseases and much much more.

Too much of a good thing?

Yes, there is such thing as too much of a good thing. I limit my cups of green tea to only five a day. There are several adverse effects that can happen if you consume too much of anything so a highly recommend that you drink no more than 4 cups of green tea a day.

Make a habit of drinking green tea and harness green tea power now!

Like always, I’d like to invite all of you to share your opinions and thoughts about this wonderful drink and how you apply it in your daily life.

Thank you, take care and drink up!

Especially, its effects on your metabolism and what it can do for you.

Make no mistake about it; green tea has a wide range of benefits and advantages for us that no other drink has (maybe, red wine is close second).

Yes, green tea can lower your cholesterol. It prevents certain diseases and it does a lot for the immune system.

It also stops certain forms of tooth cavities and in some studies, it prevents esophageal cancer.

But what most people are really interested in; is it’s ability to speed up your metabolism.

In the long run green tea does in fact speed up your metabolism and promotes weight loss but it’s not a cure-all. We must make a concentrated effort to eat right and exercise on a regular basis.

What I am basically saying is that, we must be responsible for our own weigh loss strategy and our exercise routine.

Green tea weight loss and you

I’m sure you’ve heard it 1000 times before that there is no magic bullet for weight loss.

Yet millions of people are searching online for that one all-inclusive answer to their weight loss problems. The truth of the matter is that it doesn’t exist. Well, not yet at least.

There are some simple things you can do to help you lose weight:

• Find out your BMI.
• Break habits that promote overeating.
• Find exercise activities that you love and that you can do on a regular basis.
• Eat below your caloric value to lose weight but don’t starve yourself and make sure you eat a balanced diet.
• Surround your self with people like you who have the same goals and the same outlooks about weight loss as you.

I hope these green tea weight loss facts could give you a better understanding of what this great drink is all about.

Green tea should be seen more like a supplement to your weight loss efforts and not the end-all solution that some make it out to be.

Take care and have a cup on me.

Please feel free to share what you think about green tea weight loss with the rest of us and let your experiences help others.

Today I want to talk about the subjective idea that green tea tastes great.

Some of you might be wondering why I’m talking about this but I assure you there are those out there that think green tea tastes disgusting.

I am sure none of you are like that – I’m sure all of you enjoy the subtle and bitter delicacies that play upon your tongue as you drink this warm nurturing drink that replenishes the body in more ways than one.

There are people, even friends of mine that think green tea is too bitter while at the same time chugging gallons upon gallons of black bitter coffee each and every day.

I asked them, how on earth can you stand to drink that dark filth each and every morning and not give green tea a chance?

They usually answer with phrases like; it tastes weird, I can’t get used to the smell, it needs to be sweeter and a bunch of other useless excuses on why they don’t drink one of the best drinks on earth.

I often try to make my case that green tea health benefits are in an abundance:

• It increases your metabolism
• It helps ward off certain types of cancer
• It’s good for your teeth
• It regulates blood sugar levels
• It contains powerful antioxidants that help the body in so many other different ways

Yet they are not moved to drink green tea. I’ve come to the realization that it truly is a micro-niche drink and that it won’t be a generally accepted drink in the states.

But what really gets me the most are these green tea abominations that I find walking down the aisles of my local supermarket.

Green tea with sugar in it and other Kool-Aid forms of green tea that have no relation to the actual drink except for an unnatural green.

Yes, this particular post has no tips, green tea brewing techniques or cooking recipes that deal with green tea; it’s just a rant and a platform to express my distaste for the lack of acceptance of this wonderful drink in the United States.

Feel free to share your experiences with this wonderful drink that nurtures the body and rejuvenate the mind. Take care and peace out.

Don’t you think green tea tastes great?

I am always amazed on what new things I learn and experience when it comes to green tea on a daily basis.

For those of you who follow this blog and the ramblings of this green tea lover then you already know that there are all sorts of benefits that green tea provides it’s drinkers.

But here’s one I’m going to apply right before I start my workout on Friday.

Green Tea Before Workout – Help Your Body

You see guys, I’m an active weightlifter and I am always looking out for all natural supplements that can aid me in my quest for muscular strength and overall wellness.

I drink about 3 cups of green tea a day and I lift heavy weights about three times a week. I have inadvertently been helping my muscles and my respiratory system before I workout.

How do you ask? Well, I usually end my work day with a nice cup of green tea and head straight to the gym afterwards. I’m glad to know that green tea is helping me in that area as well.

It seems that the ingredient EGCG , which is found in green tea in abundance, amplifies our exercising abilities by allowing our bodies to utilize fatty acids more efficiently. Fatty acids are where we generates our power from when we do intense workouts.

Also, green tea allows us to make use of our respiratory system more efficiently by creating a better oxidation situation for our bodies.

And finally, like we all already know, green tea helps to speed up our metabolism.

Get your green tea in before your workout like you would any other bodybuilding supplement. I usually drink my cup of brewed green tea about 30 minutes before I start working out.

And if any of you would like to share your experiences with green tea and exercise then by all means, please leave your opinions and ideas in the comments section below.

Thus, parents should start to suggest green tea for their children to drink.

Results have come in showing that green tea has been directly connected with preventing and helping many long-term health issues as well as having an influence on weight loss.

Drinking green tea isn’t a typical, “make sure you eat your veggies at dinner,” kind of precaution. It is just as good as the pop or juice that your children love to drink, with great flavor and the hidden benefits.

What You Talking About Green Tea For?!?!

Green tea contains a number of antioxidants, more commonly known in the green tea world as catechins. These catechins work in our favor.

They chase around free radicals that have a helping hand in DNA damage as well as cancer. One of the main derivatives of green tea is called epigallocatehcin-3-gallate or EGCG. This EGCG has been proven to get a hold of and stop cells that are multiplying and reproducing out of control.

These cells are more commonly known as cancer. Arthritis is another extreme disease that green tea protects your body against. Again, EGCG comes into play; it protects against the destruction of cartilage and reduces the swelling and pain in your joints.

Cholesterol levels and heart disease have also been positively affected by drinking green tea.

Now, the green tea benefits mentioned above were for long term and extremely life threatening diseases. Parents should start their children out young drinking green tea, because green tea is also used for simple, daily life, safety measures.

For example, boosting immune systems, fighting the cause of allergies, defending your body against infections, preventing tooth decay, and reducing acne are basic, but important advantages you can get out of green tea.

You may be thinking, “Really, it can prevent tooth decay and reduce acne?” The answer is yes. The plaque found in your teeth is cause by bacteria and simply drinking green tea can kill those bacteria.

As for acne, green tea can help in a number of ways. For example, the antibacterial contents attack and kill acne bacteria. Also, anti-inflammatory and antioxidants work to prevent swelling, redness, and kill free radicals that will irritate the skin.

As you can see, green tea can be very beneficial, whether you are a child or an adult. However, as a parent, I would recommend getting a head start with your children. Let them drink green tea and insist that they drink it.

Green tea is tasty and it will also be protecting their bodies from many basic and serious problems with out them even knowing.