Green Tea: Beauty and Health Benefits

Green tea contains a powerful antioxidant called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG helps prevent body’s cells from becoming damaged. It is one of top foods that increase collagen. The difference between black tea and green tea is that black tea is fermented while green tea is steamed. The fermentation decreases the amount of EGCG in black tea. This is why EGCG in green tea is 5 times higher than in black tea. The benefits of green tea are:

Green Tea Beauty Benefits

– Slow down the skin aging process: EGCG in green tea fights free radicals that damage skin cells and cause wrinkles. In the research comparing a group taking green tea supplement to a group taking placebo, histologic grading of skin biopsies showed significant improvement in the elastic tissue content of treated specimens.

– Protect against sunburn: Green tea protects sun damage by reducing inflammation and fighting free radicals.

– Control acne: EGCG is anti-bacteria and helps control hormonal activities which cause acne. This antioxidant also helps fight free radicals and prevent skin problems such as acne.

Green Tea Health Benefits

– Lose weight and burn fat: Green tea raises the metabolic rate and speeds up fat oxidation. Research studies from Japan claim that drinking five cups of green tea a day can burn 70 to 80 extra calories.

– Prevent tooth decay: Catechins, the antioxidants found in green tea, inhibit the growth of bacteria that adhere to tooth surfaces.

– Reduce the risk of cancer: The National Cancer Institute indicated that catechins inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Scientists have also found that the structure of EGCG is very similar to that of a cancer drug called methotrexate and that EGCG kills cancer cells in the same way as methotrexate does.

– Lower cholesterol levels: Green tea lowers blood cholesterol by reducing its absorption in the digestive tract, while increasing its rate of excretion. A recent research found that drinking two cups of green tea a day lowered LDL cholesterol levels (bad cholesterol) by 13 mg.

How to Use Green Tea?

– Apply a green tea cream under sunscreen to protect your skin from the sun.

– Make your homemade green tea mask by mixing green tea power, honey, and lemon juice. Apply the mask on your cleaned face and leave it for 15 minutes. Then rinse your facial with warm water and apply facial moisturizer. The green tea mask will improve your complexion and reduce inflammation.

– Drink four cups of green tea a day to aid anti-aging process as Dr. Oz suggested on the Oprah show.

– Take a supplement of green tea extract. A typical dosage is 100 to 150 mg three times a day of a green tea extract standardized to contain 80% total polyphenols and 50% EGCG.