Coffee is the go-to pick-me-up for many of us in the morning. Besides giving us the jitters, however, what has coffee done for our immune system lately? Shake up your morning beverage and trade your cup of Joe for a mug of steamy green tea. Green tea is an excellent way to warm up, and it might also increase immunity and prevent diseases. However, before you dump your coffee beans, let’s find out if switching to green tea is as beneficial as some believe.
Green tea is a native of China but is now found all over the world. With many different varieties, green tea remains one of the most easily accessible, and most popularly consumed, teas. We know that different teas can help with different ailments, but green tea is often called a “Super Tea” – and with much reason.
Green tea has been thought to help with skin problems, weight loss, and increase life expectancy; that being said the claim that it can ward off illness might be a more universal remedy. According to a natural health remedy website, Home Remedies, green tea is loaded with “flavonoids and polyphenols [which are both] highly powerful antioxidants.” Consuming foods and drinks that are high in antioxidants gives our bodies the defense they need from fighting illnesses—like the common cold—and serious diseases—like cancer. Health Castle, a nutrition advice website, explains that antioxidants “can prevent or slow the oxidative damage to our body. When our body cells use oxygen, they naturally produce free radicals (by-products) which can cause damage.” Incorporating foods like green tea into our diet will help strengthen our bodies by raising our immune system, which may actually prevent some illnesses from flaring up.
The way green tea is made also affects the health benefits it yields. Health Castle points out that “green tea leaves are slightly steamed before drying and so the nutrients are preserved intact [unlike] black and other varieties of tea [which] are all fermented,” and, therefore, lose a lot of their benefits. National Geographic discusses a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which “shows how chemicals—known as alkylamines—that are commonly present in tea, are also present in some bacteria, cancerous cells, parasites, fungi, and other disease-causing agents.” The study focused on determining if, by drinking tea filled with alkyalmines, the body could “recognize and remember alkylamines” and, in turn, help the immune system fight off diseases, National Geographic states. Jack. F. Bukowski, an immunologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and coworkers “carried out experiments which revealed that exposing blood to these chemicals in the test tube could increase the size of one type of defensive response to simulated infection by up to five times [whereas] blood cells not exposed to alkylamines showed a much less significant response to simulated bacterial infection,” National Geographic concludes.
Verdict: Truth. Research suggests that green tea will help keep illnesses at bay at this winter. Talk to your doctor to see if drinking green tea is a healthy choice for you to incorporate into your diet. Remember, green tea is caffeinated, so drink in moderation or consider buying a decaffeinated version. If caffeine is not off-putting for you drink 3x daily!
For more on Nutrition, check out these features here.
How often do you reap the green tea benefits?
I drink green tea daily and almost never get sick so I’d vouch for it:)