Green Tea: The Benefits and The Brewing Process
/In this blog we are switching gears from coffee to talking tea. Green tea to be exact! By now we all know that green tea is awesome for you and we should all probably be drinking more of it on a regular basis. But what exactly in green tea makes it so awesome for us? What precisely are the health benefits we keep hearing about? We’re going to break it down for you here!
The first thing to know is that green tea is chalked full of bioactive compounds that work wonders to help keep you healthy. The main bioactive compound being the polyphenol Catechin Epigalocatechin-3-3galloate (or EGCG).
EGCG is known to help reduce inflammation in the body and is a natural antioxidant that helps to reduce and fight off free radicals, (e.g., atoms with unpaired or uneven electrons that can cause damage to cells causing a host of problems including everything from aging to cancer).
Because EGCG is so good at fighting off free radicals, it is a great compound for helping to prevent and even fight off cancers, (specifically breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer). It also helps to potentially decrease the effects of aging (both internally and externally) and can help fight off numerous other diseases as well (including heart disease).
The second thing to know is that the positive mental effects really come down to two different factors. Firstly, green tea contains caffeine (though less than a cup of coffee at only about 1/3 of the amount). Caffeine improves lots of brain functions, including increased memory, alertness, reaction time, and even mood (though we already knew this – we are coffee buffs after all!). Additionally, caffeine has been proven to help protect against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease as well!
Secondly, green tea contains an amino acid called L-theanine, which – without getting too science-y about it – essentially increases dopamine and decreases anxiety. Happier and less anxious in one drink? Yes please!
Finally, green tea has been shown to boost your metabolic rate – great for those who are trying to up their health game – and, according to several large scale studies conducted with over 400,000 adults, green tea can even help you live longer!
To recap, the benefits of green tea include:
Helping reduce inflammation in the body
Preventing and fighting off free radicals
Helping fight against and preventing cancers
Helping prevent diseases such as heart disease
Decrease the effects of aging
Boost mental functions like alertness, memory, and reaction time
Helping to protect against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease
Increases dopamine levels
Decreases anxiety
Boosts your metabolism
Helps you live longer
Now that you know the top benefits of drinking green tea, let’s make sure you know how to properly brew it! After all, no matter the benefits, are you really likely to drink anything if it doesn’t taste very good? And yes, there is a special way to brew green tea!
When brewing, choose either a ceramic, clay, glass or porcelain teapot or cup. Using plastics or metals can alter the flavor of the tea. It’s also a good idea to try to designate a vessel for your green tea brewing specifically as brewing other types of teas or drinks in the same vessel can alter the green tea taste over time.
Use one teaspoon of tea for every 6oz of water
Boil your water, then pull it off the heat and wait 60 seconds before poring over your tea to allow the water to cool to approximately 175 degrees F. Water that is too hot initially can “burn” your green tea, making it taste bitter.
Steep your tea for 3-5 minutes. The longer you steep your tea the more flavor it will have. You don’t want to steep for over 5 minutes though, because again, this can “burn” your green tea with the result being a harsh and tart taste.
Sip and enjoy!
With all of this, it seems clear to us that a cup of green tea a day can definitely help to keep the doctor away! If you’d like to hop on this green tea train (and perhaps trade out one of your daily cups of coffee for this cup of green), stop by Rise Café and we’ll whip you up a cup of perfectly brewed, Tetulia, green tea (iced or hot!).