Can Green Tea Really Do it All?
The health benefits of green tea have been extolled for centuries. In his 12th-century bookKissa Yojoki, the Japanese Zen priest and explorer Eisai claimed that green tea was beneficial for the heart and is also an elixir leading to a long life.
Centuries later, people are still drinking green tea for its medicinal value. But instead of wandering priests, health magazines are now promoting green tea as a super drink that can help with everything from weight loss to cancer. Not quite an elixir for long life, but not that far off.
Green tea comes from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, as its more famous cousin, black tea. The only difference is the green tea leaves are younger—they haven’t withered and become oxidized after harvesting. Of all the tea consumed in the U.S. in 2017, 13 percent was green tea, according to the Tea Association of the U.S.A.
Excerpted from Newsweek
