Herbal Home remedies

Through the process of oxidation, oxygen starts the process of burning glucose and fat to provide heat and energy in the body. Although this is an inevitable and naturally occurring process which gives our bodies the energy we need; the process of oxidation creates some by-products that have negative effects to our body.

During the process of oxidation, highly reactive by-products called free radicals are produced. These free radicals act on other molecules, turning them into free radicals like themselves, thus disrupting their normal functioning. This could eventually lead to massive cell destruction, tissue damage, and even cause degenerative diseases, like cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis among others.

Oxygen damage to your cells results when there are too many free radicals present inside the body. Researchers conclude that such damage may be partly responsible for the effects of aging and certain diseases.

There are certain substances in food which may play a role in protecting against this damage. Luckily, the human body comes prepared with natural defenses against these harmful free radicals.

Antioxidants are chemical substances found naturally in fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants act on free radicals, pursuing them and neutralizing them in order to stop their damage on healthy cells of the body.

What are the antioxidant effects of plants? Among the many plants that have disease-fighting antioxidants is the camellia sinensis, otherwise known as the tea plant. For centuries, tea has been served in Asian households as a healthy drink to promote health and general well-being. Green tea especially has been greatly favored due its many amazing health benefits.

For centuries, green tea has been consumed throughout the ages in Asia. In traditional Chinese and Indian medicine, green tea has been used as a stimulant, diuretic (to promote the excretion of urine), astringent (to control bleeding and help heal wounds), and to improve heart health.

The benefits of green tea have been largely attributed to the presence of polycatechins which have potent antioxidant effects. However, besides polycatechins, there are also other ingredients in green tea that contribute to its antioxidant effects.

What are the antioxidant effects found in green tea? Among all flavonoids, catechin is ranked high for its antioxidant effects and properties. Catechin is that substance in green tea which makes the beverage an excellent source of antioxidant effects. Besides tannin, vitamins such as vitamin A (carotene), C, and E, there are also other well-known substances in green tea that gives it its antioxidant effects.

Research aimed at finding the active compounds in green tea revealed that its defensive and antioxidant effects are mainly due to catechins which are powerful polyphenolic antioxidants.

Green tea also has antioxidant effects that make them powerful anti-carcinogenic, cardioprotective, nueroprotective, and anti-microbial actions. A mostly bioactive catechin called epigallocatechin gallate has been singled out by many researchers as very important because of its antioxidant effects leading to cancer prevention.

It is therefore a good idea to drink tea for its antioxidants effects. A constant intake of antioxidants from our diet can protect against damages to our body cells which occur following oxidation. Have more cups of green tea per day and benefit from its antioxidant effects.

While in Chicago for a long weekend trip, I visited several tea shops - it was nice to see that loose leaf teas are gaining in popularity at least in some parts of the U.S. There’s definitely a lot yet to be done in terms of general education about the quality of different leaves - I will write another article about this, hopefully I’ll have some physical samples soon. I came back with what feels like countless new things to write about, but for the moment let’s just dispell the various rumors about caffeine in tea. We’ll take a look at caffeine contents of different parts of the tea bush, absorption, flavor, and differences of caffeine in tea and coffee.

Let’s start with some basic facts, from the beginning…: the quantity of caffeine in dry loose leaf tea is higher than the quantity of caffeine in the same weight of dry coffee beans. The caffeine content of a cup of tea, on average, is lower though (by about half), than the same in a like size cup of coffee. This is due to the fact that more tea is produced from the same amount of tea leaves than from coffee beans. Infusing tea beyond the recommended steeping time increases the caffeine content of the cup, which is something I recommend against - the flavor of the tea will be affected to some degree (the primary contributors to the tea ‘flavor’ is due to the interaction between the caffeine and polyphenols present in the leaves).

So, in short, a properly infused cup of tea generally yields about half the caffeine content of a cup of tea.

Caffeine content of a tea bush varies by the part of the bush used for your loose leaf tea. While caffeine levels vary slightly by region, the general breakdown of caffeine content is as follows:

Bud 4.50 % First leaf 4.10 % Second Leaf 3.40 % Third Leaf 2.90 % Upper stem 2.50 % Lower stem 1.40 %

Depending on the type of tea you are drinking (white tea, for instance is primarily just buds, with high caffeine content). Many low quality loose leaf teas have higher net quantities of stems, resulting in a lower caffeine content tea. This is important, remember, because flavor is a matter of the essential interaction between polyphenols and caffeine in tea). As far as daily consumption is concerned, it is generally safe (and has no known - at least from what I’ve found in all my research) to consume as much as 10 to 12 cups of tea per day. I do have to add a word of caution here though…. tea is a diuretic, due to its caffeine content. You will need to drink more water to make up for fluid loss caused by drinking a lot of tea. I realize it may sound odd, but just try it! Drink a pot of real loose leaf tea, and you’ll find yourself feeling dehydrated an hour later. Of course the same isn’t true for the junk that passes itself off as tea (think Lipton ice tea, for instance).

To further illustrate the relative caffeine content in various beverages, here’s a comparison:

Bottle of Coke (300ml) - 40mg caffeine (average) Dark Chocolate Bar (50g) - 35mg caffeine (avg) Cup of Coffee (8oz) - 100mg (avg) Cup of Tea (8oz) - 35mg (avg) A pharmacologically active dose of caffeine is 200mg and a fatal dose is 10,000mg. Important to note here is also that several studies suggest that as much as 70-80% of caffeine content consumed is actually not absorbed by the body.

Here is another one for you: caffeine content of green tea is approximately the same as it is in black tea. The fermentation process critical to the state of the final leaf (green or black) does affect the active Catechin (antioxidant) content of the leaf, but the caffeine content remains largely the same. So…. when the store clerk tells you that the green tea has less caffeine, don’t take their word for it. Just stick with the recommended water temperatures and infusing times, and you’ll get a great cup of tea - with a caffeine dose half that of coffee, and not detrimental to your health (standard disclaimer applies here, if you have any health concerns please do consult with your doctor).

On to the subject of decaffeinated tea: This probably warrants its own subject, but let’s at least have this for a bit of reference. There are three commercial means of extracting caffeine from loose leaf tea, including the use of solvents (either ethyl acetate or methylene chloride) or the use of carbon dioxide. While producers insist that this affects the leaf only minimally, you will be drinking a tea with less than 0.4% caffeine (that’s the max content of caffeine in the dry leaf for decaffeinated tea). Again here as a purist I do want to mention that the flavor interactions will be affected, and you are consuming a product altered through the use of foreign chemical substances. Buyer beware.

Mark is a contributing author to the Loose Leaf information site at http://www.looseleaf.info

Due to the popularity of recent findings, green tea has almost become synonymous with weight loss and diet. The addition of green tea diet into diet pills and weight loss supplements is perhaps spurred by reports of harmful side-effects of other drugs like ephedra.

Why Choose the Green Tea Diet?

For four thousand years, green tea has been used all throughout Asia as a beneficial health and medicinal drink. It is different from all other tea diets because its liquid is extracted by steaming the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant as opposed to full oxidation. In this way, the green tea diet manages to preserve a lot more antioxidants and keep them intact for the body to use.

The green tea diet is an excellent source of polycatechin polyphenols, a group of antioxidants that act on free radicals. These free radicals have harmful effects on the body since they are the major causes of diseases and aging. With polycatechin polyphenols, a person has a better chance of avoiding ailments and keeping himself healthy for a much longer period of time.

Another antioxidant in the green tea diet is also being studied as a potential cure for cancer. Epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG found in the diet has been discovered to destroy cancer cells while keeping surrounding healthy cells unharmed.

The EGCG also acts with another compound, caffeine (a small amount of this is found in green tea). The interaction of these two compounds causes the diet to promote thermogenesis in the body.

It has been noted by a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that with the consumption of the green tea diet, the body’s total 24-hour energy expenditure is increased by up to four percent. This is roughly equivalent to losing more than 10 pounds of weight a month.

The diet helps increase the body’s metabolic rates. With its thermogenic properties, it is only natural that it can also promote faster metabolism of fats and sugars. Excess glucose found in the body is turned into fats by the hormone insulin. Because green tea has an inhibiting effect on insulin, it therefore helps keep sugar from being stored as fats and instead, send them directly into the muscles for immediate use.

The Downside

Although the diet has a reputation for boosting health, scientific proofs of its health benefits are still somewhat mixed. However, in an article published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, American researchers collaborated with their Chinese counterparts to discuss the beneficial effects of green tea diet on cholesterol levels.

Using 240 men and women (average age 55) who possess mild to moderately high LDL cholesterol levels, the researchers instructed them to retain their usual low-fat diet, green tea diet intake, and activity levels. After twelve weeks, it was found that those who consumed the green tea diet extract with their regular meals lost more than fifteen percent of their total LDL cholesterol levels.

Although the researchers never explained how the green tea diet may influence cholesterol levels, previous studies have shown that certain compounds play a role in reducing the amount of cholesterol absorbed by the body, increasing amount of cholesterol excreted, and thus keeping cholesterol from being stored in the liver.

Subsequent studies were made to test the findings of the first group of researchers. Their results were contradictory. They found there was no significant effect on the cholesterol profiles of their subjects.

There is no such thing as a miracle diet. The green tea diet like all other diets needs a lot of work and input from those who enroll in it. It requires both discipline and determination for it to make any significant impact on your weight loss goals.

A very high proportion of children who are having surgery are overweight or obese, and because of the excess weight have a greater chance of experiencing problems linked to the surgery, as per a new study from the University of Michigan Health System. Scientists looked at a database of all 6,017 pediatric surgeries at the U-M Hospital from 2000 to 2004, and they observed that nearly a third of the patients - 31.5 percent - were overweight or obese. More than half of those children qualified as obese, as per the study, which appears in the new issue of the Journal of the National Medical Association........

Consider a daily workout instead of a weekly visit to the gym. Schiff green tea diet provides you with the best way to workout everyday without the hassle of going to the gym!

The Schiff green tea diet is an all-natural diet product that helps promote thermogenesis and fat metabolism. The diet contains no Ma Huang or Ephedra herb. It is ephedrine-free so you won’t experience any jittery or nervous feelings.

The Schiff green tea diet has a high amount of active ingredients that have a lot of antioxidant and thermogenic benefits in store for you. The beneficial antioxidants are called catechin polyphenols. These substances interact with other compounds present in order to stimulate thermogenesis and encourage fat to burn.

The most powerful catechin polyphenol found in the green tea diet is called EGCG or epigallocatechin gallate. EGCG has almost the same effect on your fats like ephedra but minus the dangerous side effects that commonly accompany ephedra-induced metabolism. With the Schiff green tea diet, you lose weight without giving up on your body’s health!

The green tea comes from the plant Camellia sinensis, which is a native herb of China. This plant is extracted from is believed to have been in use for more than four thousand years.

The substances present in the diet have been widely recognized over the world as an effective dermal protection against Ultraviolet light radiation. The antioxidants can also help prevent cancers including stomach, ovarian, colon, oral, prostate, breast, and cervical cancers.

Being on the diet can also help in reducing harmful intestinal flora while increasing beneficial intestinal flora. It is the main reason why it has curative effects on cancers. This is also the reason why it can reduce oxidative stress in smokers and non-smokers and acts as a powerfully anti-inflammatory substance.

A single dose of the Schiff green tea diet has been to known to show a dramatic improvement in antioxidant levels in the body. It also helps preserve good cholesterol levels and lower down the bad cholesterol. In addition to that, the diet has anti-bacterial properties that help prevent teeth cavities.

And if the benefits listed above are not enough, further researches were made through the years. Having green tea in a diet supplement sometimes is not enough to promote weight loss. This is why this famous diet comes with standardized formulation to guarantee optimum results.

The Schiff green tea diet contains guaranteed levels of EGCG – 270 milligrams a day. The EGCG is used in combination with specific amounts of caffeine – 150 milligrams a day. These two substances make this diet product something to reckon with.

Included in each diet package is an easy-to-follow eating and workout plan. It has also made their tablets in easy-to-swallow sizes containing 225 milligrams green tea extract, 90 milligrams EGCG, and 50 milligrams caffeine.

Losing weight has never been this easy.