Green tea is a widely consumed beverage, especially in the East. While tea consumption in the East is nearly ubiquitous, here in the West many fewer people drink green tea, preferring pop or coffee as their work-a-day beverages. Given all of green tea's health benefits and wonderful taste, this is surprising. In this blog post I'm going to give you some reasons to look into green tea as an amazing beverage to drink throughout the day

Origins

Green tea is simply the prepared leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant which is native to China and Japan although it grows throughout many countries these days. Green tea is green (as opposed to black tea) because it has undergone very little oxidation during processing, preserving its natural character.

Benefits

Green tea tastes great. If you've had poor quality, bagged green tea in the past and thought it tastes like grass clippings, you really should revisit. Green tea from a quality tea vendor can taste floral, bright, and invigorating. There is a galaxy to discover within the flavours and aromas of fine green tea.

Besides tasting wonderful, green tea has many health benefits; some which are certain and many more claimed and unsubstantiated. Green tea is packed with polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that are capable of supporting healthy cholesterol levels and maintaining a strong cardiovascular system.

Another study shows that a chemical (L-Theanine) in green tea lowers stress levels. Another study linked tea consumption with lower prevalence of depression among elderly people. You can even apply green tea directly to your skin to help alleviate symptoms associated with radiation therapy.

With all this green tea you are probably thinking you'll get very wired on caffeine. This is unlikely to be the case. While green tea, by weight, contains more caffeine than ground coffee, the brewed product contains much less. On average, a cup of green tea contains 1/3 to 1/2 as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. And with each brewing of the same tea leaves (many can be brewed beyond 3 times) the caffeine content rapidly decreases.