Green Tea Benefits

If you're looking for an excuse to drink more tea, look no further than a healthy and healing cup of green tea. This savory beverage has a host of health benefits that can improve your physical and mental wellbeing. For starters, green tea is packed with antioxidants that help protect your cells from damage. Green tea has been shown to boost brain function, improve heart health, and can even give you beautiful skin. So if you're looking for an easy way to improve your health, enjoying some green tea is a great place to start.

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Health Benefits of Drinking Green Tea

Green tea is a favorite among natural wellness and healing traditions, and for good reason. Well regarded for its nutritional value, drinking green tea offers many unique benefits for your overall physical health that have been backed by medical expertise.

• Dental Hygiene: A lesser-known benefit to green tea is that it's proven to better your oral health. Catechins in green tea prevent plaque build-up, fight bacteria, and in turn, protect against bad breath.

• Immune Support: With one of the highest levels of antioxidants, green tea is one of the best tea types for boosting your immune system. The polyphenols and flavonoids in green tea help fight free radicals, which harm healthy cells. Plus, these antioxidants in green tea may help disease-fighting cells to recognize harmful bacteria, and in doing so prevent infection.

• Heart Health: Green tea is notably heart-healthy — countless studies have shown that it lowers blood pressure and both "bad" and total cholesterol levels. Additionally, research suggests it helps reduce blood fat levels. As a result, regular green tea consumption may defend against many forms of heart disease.

• Anti-Inflammatory:  EGCG is a catechin in green tea that has super strong anti-inflammatory effects. A natural remedy for the discomfort and pain of everyday inflammation, polyphenols found in green tea can also help reduce the side effects and overall risk of developing chronic inflammation.

• Skincare: Did you know drinking tea can lead to better skin? Antioxidants in green tea help combat UVA damage and wrinkles, and Vitamin K helps to reduce hyperpigmentation. Consider picking up a cup to compliment your skincare routine, or add green tea directly into your routine with our green tea toner or moisturizing matcha face mask.

• Digestion: Thanks to its ability to decrease inflammation, green tea can be an effective remedy to treat stomach aches. Plus, the caffeine content can help stimulate the digestive system and relieve constipation.

• Cognitive Function: The catechins found in green tea may improve cognitive function and memory recall as we age. One study showed that green tea improved task performance and cognitive processing speed. Because of its ability to improve brain function and prevent cell damage, green tea may help slow a decline in brain function from aging.

Try some of our favorite green teas for your health:

Green Tea for Mental Wellness

As you can see, there are a wealth of proven and potential health benefits of green tea. But beyond physical health, green tea may help contribute to your mental wellbeing. The beneficial effects of green tea's natural compounds not only impact your body but also your mind. Adding green tea to your diet can bring a touch of wellness to your mental and spiritual health.

• Energy: Like all tea leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant, green tea contains some level of caffeine. However, unlike coffee, the caffeine in green tea won't leave you anxious and jittery. Along with natural caffeine content, green tea has the amino acid L-theanine, which naturally soothes the sipper and balances out the effects of caffeine. Most green tea contains about half as much caffeine as black tea, or a quarter as much as coffee, although this varies by type.

• Mental alertness: Along with rising energy levels, green tea can also dispel some mental fog. By blocking adenosine receptors, green tea acts as a brain stimulant, providing temporary mental clarity and focus.

• Soothing: In many ways, green tea can provide a sense of comfort to the drinker. While the amino acid L-theanine relieves stress and anxiety, many green tea drinkers also find relaxation in developing a calming routine around green tea. Certain versions of green tea require a multistep brewing process that can act as a daily ritual or a special moment of self-care. Matcha, which is made of green tea powder, has a longer brewing process that is a grounding mindfulness ritual for many.

• Mood-boosting: Thanks to the amino acid L-theanine, green tea drinkers get a boost of dopamine with every cup. Often referred to as the "happy hormone", dopamine in tea can help brighten your mood and alleviate anxiety.

Here are some of our favorite green teas for your mental wellness:

How Often Should You Drink Green Tea?

Now that you know all of the incredibly beneficial effects of green tea, there's no better time than now to start incorporating it into your life. But how much green tea should you drink to reap all of these rewards?

Typically the recommendation is that around three cups per day is the sweet spot for getting all of the health benefits without the risk of consuming too much caffeine. However, if you're new to green tea, you can also start slowly to adapt to the taste and work your way up. Keep in mind that, to ensure a good night's sleep, it's best to avoid caffeinated drinks right before bed. Instead, green tea is the perfect substitute for your morning cup of coffee. We recommend a cup of green tea to fuel your morning, one before or after meals, and a cup before a workout. This will give you plenty of time to savor the taste and all of green tea's amazing health benefits.

What's most important is that you listen to your body, and drink however much you believe is best for you. Unless you drank green tea by the liter, there's little to no risk of drinking too much. The right amount of tea is the amount that makes you happy, and whether you drink one or three cups a day, you still can enjoy the nutritional benefits of green tea.

Want to try more green tea? Here are some of our favorites:

How Green Tea Can Help You Live a Healthy Lifestyle

As you can see, green tea is truly an incredible superfood. The bioactive compounds in green tea can aid with everything from mental wellness to medicinal purposes. An abundance of research suggests the benefits of green tea, from its anti-inflammatory effects to its gentle caffeine content. Among its possible health benefits, green tea may reduce risk factors associated with certain health conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, chronic inflammation, brain diseases due to aging, and more. Still, the question remains — does green tea lead to weight loss?

While more research needs to be done in this area, green tea in itself is not a magic fat-burning supplement. Some research suggests that regular green tea consumption may increase your metabolic rate and fat oxidation rate, but there's no consensus on the effects of green tea on weight loss or fat loss. What we do know for certain is that green tea, like all other foods, should be consumed with a balanced diet that's rich in nutrition. Even though green tea may not quicken weight loss, it's important to look at the many, many other holistic benefits of green tea as an addition to a healthy lifestyle.

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About Sips by: We’re a female-founded and led startup that makes discovering tea fun, personalized, and affordable. The Sips by Box is the only multi-brand, personalized tea subscription box. Each month, we match tea drinkers across the U.S. with delicious teas from over 150 global tea brands that we’re sure they’ll love. Based out of Austin, Texas, we are adept at savoring a hot mug even when it’s seasonally inappropriate.