Green tea…tons of people love it, I struggle.
It’s a bit like brewing up bits of my back lawn. What we do know is that it helps to decrease inflammation in our bodies. Why should we care? Because the connections made between inflammation in the body and disease are popping up everywhere.
Inflammation is a protective process in which the immune system kicks in in an attempt to fight off pathogens (germs, viruses, infection) or respond to injuries.
It shows up as heat, swelling, pain and redness but when it becomes chronic inside of us it can lead to allergies, arthritis, asthma, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune diseases, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and now we find out that dementia and Alzheimer’s are also included in that list.
Obviously, many of us can have chronic inflammation and not actually know it; even low levels of it can be a problem. Now they have discovered that inflammation also affects the nervous system and when it sticks around awhile it can lead to brain cells dying which looks like confusion, forgetfulness, slower thinking, a decreased ability to learn, difficulty concentrating and also to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Green tea has been shown to cross the blood-brain barrier, reduce inflammation, provide antioxidant activity, and reduce neural cell death.
How much should you drink to stop forgetting where you parked your car?
It seems that the suggestions are varied, 3-10 cups per day are the general opinion by experts. Do watch the late night caffeine intake if you have trouble sleeping.
Also, grating a bit of fresh ginger in that cup may provide even more of a brain benefit.
Now if that doesn’t convince you to put on the kettle, many believe it will also help you lose weight! SOLD!
