Difficult though it is to believe - there is more green tea drunk in the world than any other drink apart from water - and yet few of us realize the powerful anti aging benefits of the humble cuppa.

Some of the incredible benefits of drinking green tea - backed up by research studies - include: protection from cancer, heart disease and dementia, assistance with weight loss and increase in physical stamina during exercise.

If you don't already know about green tea you need to find out now and start making this wonderful beverage your anti aging drink of choice.

Green tea is the least processed and most nutrient rich tea there is. In fact - as far as overall health and anti-aging properties go -
green tea is up there at the top of the list.

It is the lack of processing that enables green tea to retain its amazing antioxidant power. Green tea contains hugely powerful polyphenols called catechins which have been shown to be more potent free radical scavengers than either vitamin E or vitamin C. That means if you care about looking younger for longer and staying healthy - you need to be drinking green tea or taking green tea in some form every single day.

The most important of the catechins in green tea is EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) and it is this that experts believe is responsible for most of the health benefits linked to green tea.

As well as being the most nutrient rich of the teas, green tea has the least caffeine - about half as much as coffee and considerably less than black tea.  Green tea has been the basis of literally thousands of research studies in recent years as scientists have come to understand its power as an antioxidant.

Recent studies have shown that green tea:

Lowers blood pressure - 2 cups a day gives a 64% reduction in risk

Prevents the spread of prostate cancer

Protects against all forms of cancer including lung cancer

Increases survival rates for ovarian cancer

The health benefits of green tea are so obvious and so wide-ranging that it's surprising it isn't compulsory.

Helps you lose your abdominal fat

Green tea promotes the loss of that belly fat you find so difficult to shift which also settles in alarming amounts around you body's main organs. Fat around your middle looks awful but even worse it actually does you harm.

Unlike fat deposits on the hips and thighs that produce the so-called "pear" shape body that we all know - belly fat produces the "apple" shape. When it comes to body shape - apple is much worse than pear being strongly linked to increased risks for serious conditions like type 2 diabetes.

Normally fat is laid down in the body - stored against future needs - through the action of specific enzymes. Studies show that the compounds in green tea promote fat loss by stopping these enzymes working and making sure the fat is burned as energy.

A human study in Japan in January 2005 confirmed that green tea reduces not only body fat but also brings down levels of bad cholesterol at the same time.

So how much green tea should you drink? That all depends on the level of benefit you want.The most obvious way is just to buy green tea bags or loose tea and drink it just like you would any tea. Drinking 2-3 cups in this way per day would be a good starting point to get some benefit from its anti-oxidant qualities.

The truth is though, If you want the maximum health and anti aging benefits that this wonderful food source can give you, then you need to be drinking somewhere around 20 cups of green tea per day.

You may ask why so much? Well what you're after in green tea is a high level of the catechins (EGCG) that act as such powerful antioxidants and enable you to burn more fat. Twenty cups of green tea will give you right level of catechins for disease prevention, anti-aging and fat loss - but may be too much for most people unless you love the taste!

So - probably the best all round option if youre after the anti aging and health benefit is to go for a high quality green tea supplement. There's a huge range on the market in pill, soft gel or powdered drink format.

Whatever you choose you can be confident youve chosen one of the best natural anti aging foods there is!

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