Feeling good about that cup of Shan Valley green tea you just brewed for yourself? You should!
Each delicious sip you take does more than delight your tastebuds – you’re rewarding your body with one of nature’s most amazing sources of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols. These antioxidants have been been shown to help prevent cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and may even provide protection against cancer.
Let’s dive into these polyphenols so we can get a better understanding of what they are, and why it’s green tea that gives you such a potent dose of them.
Green tea is one of the few sources of a particular type of polyphenols called catechins. The tea plant doesn’t use this substance for growth, but instead manufactures it to keep itself healthy. So essentially, your cup of green tea is transferring the key of its healthiness to you.
One particular catechin found in great abundance in green tea is epigallocatechin gallate (you’ll mostly hear this called EGCG because...hey, that’s much easier to say even if you’re a scientist!). Ongoing scientific studies indicate that EGCG is perhaps one of the best naturally occurring substances on our planet to prevent and actually reverse the damage of cardiovascular disease.
In these scientific studies green tea was shown to improve blood flow. Current research continues to indicate that each and every cup of green tea you enjoy also helps prevent a range of heart-related issues, from high blood pressure to congestive heart failure.
Who knew that a humble cup of tea could provide you with such strong medicine?
That’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to the health benefits of green tea – and by the way, one of the reasons it is so good for you is that its minimally processed. That’s especially true for Shan Valley teas. They’re grown naturally, without any chemicals. The tea needs nothing else to thrive but the rich Shan Valley soil and the region’s perfect weather for tea cultivation.
Your heart may be growing stronger with every cup of green tea, but so, too, is your brain. Green tea drinkers in a recent Swiss study were given MRIs, which showed that they actually had greater activity in the working-memory area of their brains. Green tea is also being studied by pharmaceutical companies seeking ways to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease because it has the ability to help block the formation of plaques that are linked to the disease.
There’s also another interesting relationship between that cup of green tea you just brewed and your brain. Green tea is rich in an amino acid called theanine, which acts as a natural mood stabilizer. So if you often think you feel calmer after a cup of green tea, it’s because you are: you’re feeling the effects of theanine.
Our modern-day hectic lives often mean that we don’t eat as healthfully as we should, and as a result, many of us find ourselves overweight – which can lead to related diseases. In fact, the most common type of diabetes is often caused by being overweight. Green tea isn’t a magic bullet for weight loss, but it does increase your metabolism, helping you to burn fat. Additionally, green tea helps to regulate your blood sugar – key for those who have diabetes. And those catechins? They also help to lower cholesterol and blood pressure – which means that regular consumption of green tea can actually help protect you against the damage caused by eating high-fat and over processed foods.
Give yourself permission to love green tea. It’s a natural love story, where the heart lives happily ever after.
