It’s not breaking news that green tea is good for you, but what you might not realize is just how powerful this beneficial brew can be for healthy aging and your overall health. You see, green tea does way more than just wake up your brain at 3 p.m.
All types of tea (black, white, chai, herbal, and of course green) are packed with antioxidants and other plant compounds that help keep inflammation under control, which helps with disease prevention, immunity, and staying well overall.
Now that you know that drinking tea has amazing health perks, steep yourself a cup while you read up on some of the surprising benefits of green tea.
Benefits of Green Tea
Supports Brain Health
This superfood could rev your memory, help with focus, and reduce anxiety, studies suggest, but more research is needed. Green tea’s potential to support your brain may be partially thanks to L-theanine, an amino acid found in tea (green tea has the most of all teas) that can help mitigate some of the common side effects of the stimulant, such as nervousness and jitters, to promote mental clarity.
Promotes Heart Health
Green tea is good news for the ticker. A recent study found that among healthy individuals, green tea had a positive effect on blood pressure, and other recent research revealed that green tea may help reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol.
Aids in Weight Maintenance
Green tea can help you maintain a healthy weight, for a few different reasons. For one, if you replace a sugary afternoon pick-me-up with unsweetened green tea, you’ve already slashed the empty calories that come from non-nutritive added sugars. Some studies also suggest that drinking green tea can help overweight individuals with healthy weight maintenance, possibly due to specific plant compounds that green tea contains.
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May Help Protect Against Cancer
Green tea vs. “the big C” is a hot topic that still needs more human research trials (most have been done on animals), but one recent review found that consuming green tea may be associated with a lower risk of certain cancers (endometrial, lung, oral, and ovarian cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma). The potential key? Researchers think that the polyphenols and antioxidants in green tea help neutralize free radicals and protect cells from damage; studies suggest that a specific type of antioxidant, catechins, may have particularly powerful anticancer properties.
May Help Lower Alzheimer’s Risk
More research into green tea’s potential effects on Alzheimer’s and dementia risk is needed, but there are some promising findings so far. One study concluded that green tea had “favorable effects” on mitigating the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and in another study, Japanese researchers found that drinking two to three cups of green tea daily was associated with a lower rate of cognitive decline.
Could Help Prevent a Stroke
A stroke can come on quickly; however, living a healthy lifestyle can help lower your odds of one happening—and adding some green tea to your days is one trick that might be worth a try. One recent meta-analysis found an association between drinking green tea and reduced risk of stroke, and another study found that sipping at least three cups of green tea a day could slash your stroke risk by 21%.
Supports Longevity and Healthy Aging
Studies in Japan showed that consumption of green tea may be associated with a lower risk of death from all causes; another study conducted on Chinese men found that green tea drinkers had a lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to non-tea drinkers. Finally, findings from a recent review on tea drinkers in China and the UK suggest that drinking about three cups of tea a day may help slow biological aging.
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