In the previous post, I have talked about the special compounds that have made green tea a miracle cup. In this post, I will talk about why green tea compared with other Chinese teas will have more health benefits.

Green tea like other Chinese teas, namely oolong and black teas, all of which come from the plant Camellia sinensis. The distinction between green tea and other Chinese teas is the process by which it is made. How the four main types of tea is processed is presented in the chart below.

As you can see, the processing of green tea does not include fermentation – the process of oxidizing tea leaves. The steam process of the Camellia sinensis leaves keeps the EGCG from oxidizing, retaining much of the health benefit of EGCG. To make oolong and black teas, the leaves are however fermented instead of being steamed, causing the health benefit of EGCG to transform into another less medicinally potent form.

The picture on the left shows the steaming green tea leaf in processor in Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute, Western Australia. The picture on the right shows tea leaves spread out on fermentation rack.

Besides serving medicinal purposes, drinking green tea has other health benefits. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November 1999 showed that men who take both caffeine and green tea burn down more calories than men who only take caffeine or a placebo. This evidence is very useful for dieter or people in the fitness field.

Drinking green tea can help prevent tooth decay as well as food poisoning. The bacteria-destroying properties of green tea help to kill the bacteria causing food poisoning and those that cause dental plaque to form.

There are so many medicinal and health benefits of green tea. If you want to stay healthy, drink green tea.

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The Chinese have known the medicinal benefit of using green tea as treatment for everything from headaches to depression since 4000 years back.

Scientific studies are conducted in both Asia and the west to prove that the Chinese are right. Today, these researches are providing hard scientific evidence of health related benefits of drinking green tea. For example, the 1994 edition of the Journal of National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study of health benefits of green tea. The results indicated that drinking green tea can help to reduce the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by up to 60%. 

So what are the secrets that make green tea so special? The rich presence of catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the reason why green tea has so much health benefits. EGCG is a powerful antioxidant that not only inhibits the growth of cancer cells but also destroys them without harming healthy cells. In addition, it is also effective in lowering down LDL cholesterol levels and stopping blood from forming abnormal clots (thrombosis) which is a leading cause of heart attacks and strokes.

A recent research done by the University of Purdue has shown that a certain compound present in green tea can stop cancer cells from growing. There is another research that points to the ability of green tea to lower down cholesterol levels and improve the ration between good (HDL) cholesterol and bad (LDL) cholesterol.

In conclusion, there are countless medicinal benefits of drinking green tea. Cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, high cholesterol levels, cardiovascular disease, infection and impaired immune function are few of the medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful.

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