It has been heard about for a long time and everyone agrees: green tea is more than just a cup of tea. By doing a brief search in the scientific literature, we learn that the properties of this drink, which many love to sip – both cold and hot – in the morning or during the day, are truly multiple and all beneficial for our health.
Green tea is obtained by subjecting the tea leaves to a thermal process called “stabilization” – which can be performed with dry heat (roasting) or moist heat (steaming) – which inhibits the enzymes responsible for oxidation and therefore allows the leaves to maintain the characteristic green color.
Also defined “Not fermented” since it is not fermented, the green tea, although traditionally born in the East where it has been consumed for centuries, it is now easily available also in Italy and is perfect for all seasons.
The benefits that can result from the consumption of green tea they are really many and would seem to depend mainly on presence of large quantities of catechins, polyphenols able to strengthen the antioxidant defenses and therefore reduce the damage to cells, with positive effects on all tissues.
Specifically, green tea would have anti-tumor properties (protects good cells from mutations and inhibits the growth of cancerous ones) and would bring benefits to the cardiovascular system (inhibits the formation of clots, reduces the presence of fat and cholesterol in the blood and slows down the development of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease) and respiratory (it is particularly useful against negative effects of smoking).
If consumed then with a little lemon juice, these benefits would even seem to be amplified. Some scientific studies have in fact highlighted how the addition of lemon increases the polyphenols of green tea and makes the antioxidants contained in the drink more easily absorbed by the body.
Its preparation is simple and immediate: pour one or two teaspoons of tea leaves into a cup of boiling water, let it rest for five minutes, filter, let it cool and sip.
Alternatively on the market you find ready-to-use sachets. However, do not leave it to infuse for too long, otherwise the tea will become very bitter.
The important thing is to always check the quality of the raw material, the region of origin and the method of processing.
Green tea is indicated for all ages (except for children or particularly anxious subjects due to the amount of caffeine present) and at any time of the day, green tea has only one contraindication: it should not be consumed in case of anticancer therapy based on bortezomib, since the epigallocatechin molecules contained in green tea bind to the molecules of this drug, preventing them from binding to cancer cells and damaging them (source: IRCCS Humanitas).
But now we discover in the gallery above 7 excellent reasons to introduce at least one cup of green tea a day into our daily diet.
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