Green Tea May Reduce Heart Disease Risk; May Also Help Lose Weight

One cup of green tea a day can lower the risk of heart diseases. The antioxidant found in green tea drinks may also help people burn calories and eventually lose weight.

"Green tea has the highest polyphenol content while black tea has roughly 2 to 3 times the caffeine content of green tea," according to University of Maryland Medical Center. The popular tea from Japan is prepared from unfermented leaves, the more the leaves are fermented, the lower the polyphenol content and the higher caffeine content.

A study, observed in 90,000 people aged 40 to 69 years old over four years, concluded that the more green tea the participants drank, participants were less likely to have a premature death due to heart disease, stroke or respiratory disease. A similar study conducted in 2009 reported that drinking up to seven cups of green tea a day could cut the risk of dying from heart disease by 75 percent, according to News Max.

Green tea also helps reduce obesity, as people who are obsessed are more likely to develop cardiovascular diseases. In a 2014 report by the Pennsylvania State University, researchers reported that mice in high-fat diets showed a significant reduction in weight when given exercise and green tea extracts.

Green tea is high in antioxidants called polyphenols that include EGCG, which is responsible for regulating blood pressure and body fat, according to Daily Mail. In addition, green tea lowers total cholesterol by raising HDL or the good cholesterol, according to a report by UMMC.

Meanwhile, the antioxidant 'catechin' and caffeine found in green may also have a role in burning calories and speeding up metabolism which can eventually lead to weight loss. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition claims that catechins can help increase calorie burn by 4 percent.

Unfortunately, the correct amount of green tea consumption varies from study to study. While participants who drank one cup of green tea a day has a 10 percent lower risk of premature death, the figure rose to 17 percent if the person drank more than five cups of green tea a day.

Due to its varying declarations, the health benefits of green tea are inconclusive. "In the Far East, green tea has been used as a treatment for a variety of conditions ranging from arthritis to weight loss, as well as a preventative measure for diseases such as cancer, although the evidence for the majority of these conditions is weak or lacking," Alison Hornby said, dietitian and BDA spokesperson.

Hornby continues to explain though that green tea may still be consumed as a social drink in moderate amounts. Green tea lovers can then still continue to enjoy it.