Benefits of Green Tea

You have probably heard about Green Tea and how good it is for you. Believe it or not, I used to drink the better part of 2 pots of coffee every day, but now I finish about 3/4 of a pot, and then switch to green tea for the later afternoon (tea time – 4pm) and into the evening. Green and Black Tea (the classic tea) are made from the same leaves, but Green Tea is much less processed and not fermented, like Black Tea, which saves lots of the beneficial compounds. This is from the Celestial Seasonings website, and is about the compounds found in green tea:

Flavonoids are nutrient antioxidants found in most plants and many foods common in the human diet. There are 12 types of flavonoids, and one plant species may contain hundreds of different flavonoids. Polyphenol is a broad class of antioxidants including flavonoids and catechins. Catechins are a type of flavonoid contained in the leaves of tea. Catechins are very strong antioxidants, even more powerful than vitamins A, C, E and beta-carotene at combating harmful free radicals and protecting fragile DNA.

If you remember, antioxidants combat those free radicals, oxygen molecules that are floating around breaking apart your cells and causing problems from wrinkles to cancer. Green tea is also purported to help with things like cavities, weight loss and arthritis.
I have been drinking this super-yummy Moroccan Mint green tea from Teavana lately and it beats all the other green teas I have tried by a long shot!