Now some people like their green tea mixed with things and that’s fine if their goal isn’t weight loss.  A grande (the medium size) green tea latte from Starbucks has 190 calories.  Green tea certainly has other nutritious benefits besides weight loss and a green tea latte is truly a delicious drink in and of itself.

We here at Green Tea Nutrition definitely drink lots of green tea lattes …  probably a few more than we should!

But what about if you don’t particularly like the taste of green tea and you still want don’t want to add any calories to your drink?  Simple, add a zero calorie sweetener to your green tea and improve the taste without adding calories that you don’t want. We recommend Splenda since it tastes great and since the FDA hasn’t found any health risks associated with it.

Whether you are drinking green tea as an aid to weightloss, or for it’s other nutritional benefits, or just because you like the taste, it’s great to know that green tea can fit into any diet. So drink away, guilt free!

Technorati Tags: green tea calories, green tea latte

Green Tea’s polyphenols can help you reduce your risk of disease and help slow the effects of aging, some studies suggest.

Green Tea’s polyphenols are the naturally-occurring antioxidents that give green tea it’s flavor and provide disease prevention and treatment benefits. The major polyphenols are epicatechin, epicatechin gallate, epigallocatechin and epigallocatechine gallate (EGCG).

EGCG contains 200 times the amount of antioxident level of Vitamin E, studies suggest.

How about that! Scientists have long-purported that Vitamin E is one of the strongest weapons in our arsenal against aging. And who doesn’t want to look younger longer?

It makes sense why Asian cultures tend to exhibit a more youthful appearance into later life because green tea’s anti-aging ingredient EGCG.

When your immune system is stronger, often attributed to healthy habits, your body is more prepared to Green tea’s polyphenols also provide nutrition needed to boost your immune system, which protects your body against bacteria, diease, fungi and other nasty critters. Your immune system helps you fight off infection and keep your organs and tissues safe and sound.

With the help of EGCG, your immune system is more equipped to fight against the decaying of your body’s cells, including your skin. Drinking green tea and taking in it’s anti-aging polyphenols thus help you maintain more youthful-appearing skin longer because your body is able to protect itself against damage

So can a green tea diet stop aging altogether? Of course not! But drinking green tea regularly, which some suggest drinking at least five cups a day, can keep you strong and energized.

If drinking that many cups of green tea per day sounds like more hassle than its worth, consider taking green tea extract supplements.

Technorati Tags: anti-aging, Green Tea, green tea diet, Skin Care, youth

In the 12th century, Zen Monk Eisai brought tea seeds from China to Japan and also relayed the 10 virtues of tea.

Regular green tea drinkers will be able to relate to these virtues. Here are the 10 Virtues of tea:

1. Tea has the blessing of all the Deities
2. Tea promotes filial piety
3. Tea drives away the devil
4. Tea banishes drowsiness
5. Tea keeps the Five Viscera (organs) in harmony
6. Tea wards off disease
7. Tea strengthens friendships
8. Tea disciplines body and mind
9. Tea destroys the passions
10. Tea gives a peaceful death

Talk about an amazing drink. It’s not wonder that green tea has grown into a cultural phenomenon in Japan and other parts of Asia.

Now if anyone asks, you can give an even better answer for why you love drinking green tea

Green Tea image by Kanko*

Ever notice that when drinking green tea, the tea’s caffeinated properties boost your mental functioning and alertness, but you still feel relaxed?

The secret?

Theanine!

Green Tea contains the special amino acid (the building blocks of protein) Theanine, which is unique to green tea.

Theanine makes up half of the amino acid concentration in green tea, adding heavily to the taste of the tea.

What’s more incredible about this amino acid is that L-theanine is one of few amino acids that enters into the brain, counteracting some of caffeine’s stimulant effects.

Green Tea’s L-theanine is able to instill relaxation in tea drinkers because the amino acid alters levels of serotonine, dopamine and other neurotransmitters while interacting with brain receptors associated with relaxation.

Green Tea’s wonder amino acid has been found to reduce anxiety, increase alpha brain wave activity, lower blood pressure, improve learning ability and even boost immune systems, studies find.

There you have it. L-theanine allows caffeine to do its work and keep you alert while also helping you feel at ease. Sounds like a good drink to have to get you through the work day, doesn’t it?

I learned most of this information from a great book called The Green Tea Book. If you’re interested in learning more about Green Tea Health Benefits, check it out!

Technorati Tags: amino acid, Green Tea, green tea health, relaxation, theanine

While all green teas are great to drink at any time, Kukicha, known for its refreshing light fragrance, is the best cup of tea for any morning.

The tea is rich in anti-oxidants as it is brewed from the stems and twigs of green tea plants. This gives the Kukicha tea, also known as stem tea, a nutty and mellow flavor.

Kukicha tea is rich brown in color and contains calcium and is astringent to help soothe your stomach as well.

If you’re like me, a green tea that soothes your stomach and welcomes you to each day isn’t so bad.

Eden Organic produces a great package of Kuchika green tea bags, which might be enough of a taste to get hooked on Kuchika.

For many of us, we may first turn to replacing soda with diet soda.

A healthy alternative to drinking soda, whether diet or not, could be creating your own green tea soda.

None of us likes to feel weighed down after our lunch break, which often comes after drinking a couple rounds of dark sodas.

Green Tea’s natural health benefits will actually work to energize you by building your metabolism and infusing a tiny and sustainable amount of caffeine into your diet.

See how others are already brewing their own healthy soda alternative.

One note on this video, it’s best to avoid “boiling” the green tea, as that can damage some of the tea’s nutrients and health benefits. When brewing green tea, bring the water to a boil, but avoid boiling the tea.

Give this refreshing drink a try and let us know what you think!

Technorati Tags: drinks, Green Tea, green tea recipe, green tea soda, soda

A lot of people suffer from mild acne – that’s why its a multi-billion dollar business throughout the world.

If you’re like a lot of us, you’ve dealt with a few acne battles. And if you’re like a huge chunk of us, you’ve tried a number of over-the-counter and even prescription anti-acne products.

The problem that many of us find is the stinging chemicals and rubs can sometimes leave our face more red than we started with.

This is one reason why people with mild acne issues should consider using green tea extract to reduce acne flare ups. Applying green tea extract to your skin can help draw out toxins in your skin.

Once you’ve done so, be sure to wash your face to clean off the surfaced toxins. Next, apply an oil-free moisturizer.

The key to healthy acne-less skin is to avoid drying out your skin, because your face will produce excess oil when your skin senses your face is oil-less.

Green tea has been known to have soothing affects. Another way to combat a breakout is to soak a cold compress in green tea and apply it to your face. Just be sure to wash your face gently after using the compress and reapply the moisturizer.

Drinking two cups of green tea daily will also help reduce acne because green tea contains many anti-oxidants that help eliminate toxin build-up in your body.

Technorati Tags: acne, anti-oxidents, clear skin, Green Tea, tea

Can you guess what it is?

If you guess Green Tea, you are correct!

Skin-products guru Lina Tanaka told the Journal that she brews fresh Green Tea daily – using either green tea bags or loose leaves – and applies cooled green tea directly to her face throughout the day.

Each morning, Tanaka splashes her face with green tea and then uses facial creams to prevent her skin from drying. She loads the rest of the cooled tea into a spritzer bottle and she sprays herself with green tea throughout the day to cool her skin and protect against damaging sun rays.

She has even been known to place cooled green tea bags on her eyeslids during the evenings to help replenish them, the Journal reports.

While green tea can be an incredibly nutritional drink, it’s awesome to see that using cooled green tea as a skin product can produce results that get the approval of skin-product experts like Tanaka.

The great thing about Tanaka’s Green Tea Skim Care regime is it’s incredibly inexpensive. Green Tea bags cost only pennies per bag.

A great value Green Tea I’ve found Yogi’s Green Tea Super Anti-Oxidant bags.

If you’ve tried Ms. Tanaka’s Green Tea skin care solution, let us know how it went. I’d love to hear your experience.

Technorati Tags: Beauty, Green Tea, Skin Care

Applegate chose to have a double-mastectomy, which surgically removed both of her breasts.

But did she need to undergo such a high-price procedure to save her life?

Breast cancer has many natural cures, according to organic health activists such as the NaturalNews.

Among other solutions, NaturalNews suggests that anti-cancer herbs, such as Green Tea, could reduce the risk of breast cancer in women.

Green tea contains polyphenols, which may help prevent cancer growth, some say.

In some experiments, green tea diets have been known to slow the development of tumors in rats.

So what do you think? Should Christina Applegate have delayed her double-mastectomy and tried a diet of green tea nutrition?