What are the benefits of green tea?
Green tea has long been used in China as a remedy for everything from headaches to depression, but it is only recently that it gained notoriety in the western world as something beneficial. The benefits of green tea are many, and most are due to the positive effects of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an anti-oxidant that also limits the negative effects of smoking and fatty diets, and decreases the likeliness of heart disease. EGCG also inhibits the growth of cancer cells, and kills cancer cells without harming the healthy tissue.
A 1994 study by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute demonstrated this fact when it released a study showing that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly 60 percent. Green tea also reduces the amount of bad cholesterol, and helps with rheumatoid arthritis, infection, and impaired immune function, among many other things.