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Alternative Medicine it is all in What You Drink

Have you given much thought to what you drink? Do you mostly drink coffee and soda? Or are you more health conscientious drinking water, milk, juice and green tea. Yes, green tea is a healthy beverage for you to drink. In fact, many believe that green tea is the miracle beverage. This is why green tea is part of dietary medicine, which is a form of alternative medicine.

The people of china have long known of the health benefits of drinking green tea. They have used the drink to treat depression and headaches and many more ailments.

Many studies have been conducted on the health benefits of green tea including the epidemiological study published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute showing that there was a reduction in esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women who drank green tea.

Other researchers in the University of Purdue studied green tea and found that those who drink green tea lower the total cholesterol levels, and improved the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to (LDL) cholesterol, the bad cholesterol.

Those who study the effects of green tea agree that the beverage is helpful for several medical conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease, infection, impaired immune function, high cholesterol levels, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Green tea is rich in catechin polyphenols, especially epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). If you are not aware of it, you should know that EGCG is a very powerful anti-oxidant. It can inhibit the growth of cancer cells, and kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It can lower LDL cholesterol (bad) and it can also stop the abnormal formation of unnecessary or excessive blood clotting. Abnormal blood clotting is a leading cause of heart attacks and strokes so it is important to drink green tea if you have a high risk factor for heart attacks or stroke.

Green tea is processed differently from other types of tea. Green teas are steamed instead of fermented like black and oolong tealeaves are.

Did you know that if you drink green tea you might be helping your body to achieve a normal weight and to maintain that proper weight?

Amazingly green tea can also help individuals that drink it to prevent tooth decay because it kills the bacteria that cause dental plague.

That same bacteria-destroying property also helps green tea to prevent food poisoning.

Because green tea contains caffeine you may have trouble sleeping although green tea does contain less caffeine than regular coffee does.

How much green tea should you drink each day?

That answer depends on if you are male or female and what disease you are at high risk for and would like to prevent.

Studies show that men drinking 3 cups of green tea a day can stay cancer-free longer than those who drink less than 3 cups of green tea a day or who did not drink green tea. Another study showed that drinking 4 or more cups of green tea can help to prevent rheumatoid arthritis and can reduce symptoms in those who already have the disease. Women who drink 5 cups or more of green tea a day can minimize breast cancer and can even prevent the spread of breast cancer.