Green Tea - The Healthy Drink
By Dr. Tony Vendryes
Tea is the most widely consumed beverage on earth and has an over 4000 year history as a health promoting drink. The tea plant technically known as Camellia sinensis produces green tea, black tea and oolong tea. The difference in the type of tea is a result of the different ways the tea leaves are processed after harvesting them. The majority of the tea currently available in Jamaica and in the world is black tea.
Although all these three varieties of tea have health benefits, green tea is far superior to the others in this regard. Medical research has confirmed what the Chinese have been saying for centuries: that green tea contains special health preserving and revitalising power.
INGREDIENTS OF GREEN TEA
Antioxidants - Green tea contains a group of compounds called polyphenols. They are powerful antioxidants which are responsible for the therapeutic properties of green tea. One of these substances, called EGCG for short, is 200 times more powerful as an antioxidant than vitamin E. Green tea contains much more antioxidants than black tea.
CAFFEINE
Caffeine is a stimulant which is present in green tea in much smaller amounts than in black tea or coffee. In small amounts, can be an excellent energy enhancer, but it is best to limit one's intake, as excess caffeine consumption may be unhealthy.

COMPARISON CHART OF CAFFEINE CONTENT OF COMMON

Beverage /1 serving Caffeine content mg. per serve   
Coffee (brewed) 60-160   
Coffee (instant) 30-120   
Coffee (decaffeinated) 1-5   
Soft drinks 40 - 70   
Black tea 20-90   
Green tea 6-30   
Hot chocolate 2 - 20  


OTHERS
Green tea contains over 500 aromatic oils as well as small amounts of several vitamins and minerals.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF GREEN TEA
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE - Green tea lowers the "bad" cholesterol while increasing the "good" cholesterol. It reduces blood pressure, reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes and acts as a blood thinner.
CANCER - In animal experiments, green tea extract prevented cancer of the lung, liver, prostate, skin, oesophagus and colon. Human studies suggest that drinking two or more cups of green tea a day reduced the overall risk of cancer by ten percent.
LONGEVITY  Studies conducted on Japanese women showed that greater than average tea drinkers had a lower mortality rate than other women. Researchers believe this to be due to a stimulating effect of tea on the immune system.
ORAL HEALTH  Research shows that drinking green tea protects the teeth and gums from disease. The polyphenols in tea inhibits the growth of cavity forming bacteria.
So, consider making green tea your favorite drink. I personally recommend a convenient instant green tea herbal concentrate, (Herbalifes Shapeworks – Instant Herbalife Beverage) which can be used hot or cold and also contains additional health promoting herbs. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Herbalife's ShapeWorks Instant Herbal Beverage) is a powerful  green tea with  all its benefits
HERBAL BEVERAGE!

Usage:
Take 1/2 to 1 tsp
2 – 4 times a day.
Mix it with either hot water (you can add sugar, honey etc) or juice.  Enjoy!!