FitSugar

What's the Deal With Catechins?

FitSugar — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 04:30:00 -0700

I know the word catechins sounds like a furry underwater sea anemone, but it's actually a type of flavonoid, which are compounds known for their antioxidant properties. Soy products, wine, citrus fruits, and tea are great sources of flavonoids. They're big in the health world because they're believed to help lower cholesterol, prevent cataracts, and have anti-cancer abilities. Catechins have been linked to a reduced risk of stroke, heart failure, cancer, and diabetes. When combined with regular exercise, catechins have also been shown to delay some forms of aging. This healthy compound can be found in green tea, black tea, Oolong tea, beans, grapes, apricots, apples, red wine, and chocolate. So be sure to include these in your diet. And don't forget to exercise, either.

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Why Do You Drink Green Tea?

FitSugar — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Green tea must currently be the most studied beverage on the planet. Another group of studies just came out showing that the brew reduces the brain plaque buildup that can lead to Alzheimer's. Green tea, with its high antioxidant count, also helps ward off certain cancers, helps fight HIV, protects the skin against UV damage, and boosts your metabolism. There are just so many reason to drink green tea, but for me taste would not be among them. I need to cut the grassy taste with jasmine petals or toasted rice, like genmai cha.

With all its wonderful side effects, I am wondering . . .

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Healthy Eating Tip: Cook Pasta in Green Tea

FitSugar — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:00:00 -0700

I was perusing the October issue of Shape and found an interesting tip in one of their dinner recipes. They suggested boiling your pasta noodles with bags of green tea. I thought it was a little odd at first, but then I read that it actually makes your pasta healthier because the noodles soak up the rich antioxidants from the tea. So I decided to give it a try, adding six green tea bags to six cups of boiling water. When I cooked my two and a half cups of whole wheat penne, the green tea added a subtle earthy flavor similar to spinach pasta. Give it a try the next time you make noodles and let me know what you think.

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Foods That Fight Sunburn

FitSugar — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:00:00 -0700

Let me start by saying the most effective way to protect your skin against sunburn is using sunscreen and plenty of it – a shot-glass worth – frequently. While a bit of sunlight is healthy, since we need UV rays to synthesize vitamin D, you should wear sunscreen daily.

You can, however, boost your skin's ability to protect itself from harmful UV rays by eating certain foods like tomatoes. Don't worry if you are still avoiding raw tomatoes, the beneficial antioxidant of tomatoes increases when it is cooked and more concentrated like tomato paste. The benefits of tomatoes drastically increase when paired with olive oil. I see an Italian dinner in my near future.

Green tea, super rich in phytonutrients, is a wonder drink when it comes to health. The antioxidants in this tea have been found to block DNA damage from UV light in studies involving human skin cells. You don't need to brew yourself a hot cup of tea to enjoy the benefits of green tea. One of my favorite drinks of Summer is a green tea-lime cooler. It is refreshing.

While you can't eat your sunscreen, you can boost your natural protection. Eat and drink up!

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Green Tea Lime Cooler

FitSugar — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:30:00 -0700

After days of fog, the SF bay area has been hit by a serious heat wave. Yesterday, my ability to concentrate started to wane in the early afternoon and I wanted a caffeinated pick me up; but hot tea seemed too hot. I improvised a green tea with lime cooler and boy did it hit the spot. So much so, that I wanted to share it with you all. It is as easy to make as it is to drink and it is great way to blend citrus with green tea increasing the amazing antioxidant levels even more!

To see the recipe, just read more.

Green Tea Lime Cooler
Inspired by Peet's Green Tea Cooler

This recipe serves one, but is easily doubled. You can make a pitcher as well.

Ingredients

1 green tea bag
juice from 1/2 lime
1/2 to 1 teaspoon agave nectar
handful of ice

Directions

Boil water and steep green tea in about 1 and 1/2 cups boiling water for about five minutes.
Add in lime juice and agave nectar (or sweetener of your choice). Stir until mixed.
Add a handful of ice.
Drink up and enjoy!

Print recipe with images | without images

You Asked: How Many Cups of Green Tea a Day?

FitSugar — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:30:00 -0700

You're asking and I'm answering . . .

"Dear Fit,
You've been extolling your wisdom on the benefits of green tea, but I'm unsure how much green tea you actually have to drink for it to make a difference. I've heard as much as 10 cups a day which sounds crazy!
Thanks so much!"
– Green Tea Gina

This a great question because green tea is amazing. I feel fortunate that I do like the taste so drinking a cup or two a day is no problem for me. This is good since both
Dr. Zuo Feng Zhang, a cancer epidemiology researcher at UCLA, and the University of Maryland Medical Center recommend two to three teacups (not mugs) a day will prove beneficial to your health.

To see what drinking five cups of green tea a day can do for you read more.

However, drinking up to five cups a day has been shown to decrease risk for stomach cancer. For weight loss and to boost your metabolism, the best results have been seen with drinking seven cups a day (this was studied in mice though and has yet to be studied directly on humans). Additionally many other medical studies have shown the the more green tea consumed daily the greater the benefits, with 10 cups being the upper limit. If you are sensitive to caffeine, or suffer from insomnia, 10 cups of green tea is probably going to be too much for your system, regardless of the benefits.

There are a few negative consequences to drinking lots and lots of green tea. The tannins found in both green and black tea can decrease absorption of folic acid, an important vitamin that helps decrease birth defects. If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, you should definitely limit your green tea consumption to two cups a day, or skip it all together. Green tea can also interfere with the absorption of iron, too, so it is recommended that you avoid drinking green tea with meals and just drink it between them.

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Give Your Green Tea a Boost With Citrus

FitSugar — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:00:00 -0700

In case you were feeling like your green tea wasn't already healthy enough, scientists have found a way to make the wonder juice even healthier. According to research, adding citrus juices to green tea may increase catechins - antioxidants believe to be responsible for green tea's health benefits- levels by more than five times, while vitamin C boosted absorbable levels of catechins by up to 13 times. So moral of the story? Think about squeezing a little lemon into your green tea tomorrow. Not only will it add a little extra flavor to your tea, but you'll be boosting its antioxidant power as well.

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The Seven Wonders of Green Tea

FitSugar — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:45:00 -0800

Whenever I read the benefits of green tea I always think to myself, "Why do I drink anything else?" There are seven wonderful things about green tea that you may or may not have known. Regardless, here are highlights:

Cut Your Cancer Risk: Several polyphenols - the potent antioxidants green tea's famous for - seem to help keep cancer cells from gaining a foothold in the body, by discouraging their growth and then squelching the creation of new blood vessels that tumors need to thrive.
Soothe Your Skin: Got a cut, scrape, or bite, and a little leftover green tea? Soak a cotton pad in it.
Protect Your Skin: In the lab, green tea applied directly to the skin (or consumed) helps block sun-triggered skin cancer, which is why you're seeing green tea in more and more sunscreens and moisturizers.

There are more so read more.

Steady Your Blood Pressure: People who sip just half a cup a day are almost 50 percent less likely to wind up with hypertension than nondrinkers. Credit goes to the polyphenols again (especially one known as ECGC). They help keep blood vessels from contracting and raising blood pressure.
Protect Your Memory or Your Mom's: Aging adults who drink at least two cups a day are half as likely to develop cognitive problems as those who drink less. Why? It appears that the tea's big dose of antioxidants fights the free-radical damage to brain nerves seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Stay Young: About 10 ounces a day, deters your body from absorbing artery-clogging fat and cholesterol.
Lose Weight: Turns out that green tea speeds up your body's calorie-burning process.

Are you drinking it? Tell me about it in the comments section below.

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Green Tea Keeps Mice Skinny

FitSugar — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:00:00 -0800

I extol the benefits of green tea regularly, and now there is another great health attribute to add to the list – blocking fat and keeping extra pounds at bay. Rather, a health attribute to hopefully add to the list of benefits in the near future, since this attribute of green tea has not yet been proven in humans.

A recent study found that mice, with an obesity gene, which were fed food laced with green tea had: less weight and fat gain, had less fat in their livers, and had lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. That's plenty of good stuff coming from a cup of green stuff.

What I find most encouraging about this study is that the mice were fed the equivalent of seven cups of tea, while that might seem high it is by no means an outrageous amount of tea.

Me? I will keep sipping my daily dose of green tea, mostly because I enjoy the taste. How about you? Do you like green tea? Do you drink it daily? Tell me how you feel about green tea in the comments section below.

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Green Tea Good Weapon Against Colon Cancer

FitSugar — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:00:00 -0800

If green tea is your favorite form of caffeine, then I've got some great news for you. According to research presented at the Sixth International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention, green-tea extract may help to prevent colon cancer.

So far, the green-tea extract has been successful in fighting cancer in rats. When rats were fed a diet containing this extract, and then injected with tumor-causing azoxymethane (a chemical known to produce colorectal tumors that share many characteristics with colorectal cancer in humans), only 27 percent of the rats developed malignant tumors. Which is considerably lower than the rats who were not give green-tea extract – 67 percent of them developed malignant tumors.

The tumors found in the rats that were given the green-tea extract were also much smaller. When researchers examined those tumors, they found green-tea extract in them. This could be the start of using green tea in prevention and treatment of colon cancer in humans. Sounds like a great reason to sit back and enjoy a relaxing cup.

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