If you want the health benefits of green tea but don't love the taste, try jasmine green tea. Jasmine green tea is green tea blended with jasmine flowers, which gives the tea a floral taste and aroma. If you prefer the jasmine flavor, it's a great way to get the many benefits of green tea into your diet.
Cholesterol and Weight Loss
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, green tea can lower your total cholesterol and raise HDL, or "good" cholesterol. Though more research is needed, one study suggests green tea may block your intestines from absorbing cholesterol and direct your body to excrete it instead. Drinking green tea also may help boost your metabolism and burn fat, leading to weight loss. Compounds called polyphenols are the main catalyst for both the cholesterol-lowering and metabolism-boosting properties of green tea.
Heart Disease
By lowering cholesterol and triglyceride levels, green tea can help prevent coronary artery disease and other forms of heart disease. As of 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is not allowing tea makers to make this claim on their labeling due to insufficient evidence; however, research shows that people who drink three cups of tea per day are 11 percent less likely to have a heart attack than those who do not.
Cancer
The same polyphenols that lower your cholesterol and increase your metabolism can help you prevent or fight cancer, killing cancerous cells and stopping their progression, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center website. Research has shown a link between green tea consumption and a lowered risk of bladder and skin cancer. It can help women in early stages of breast cancer fight the disease more effectively, and it promotes a better survival rate in people with bladder and ovarian cancer. Studies for other types of cancer are less conclusive, and people receiving chemotherapy for prostate cancer are advised not to drink green or black tea while undergoing treatment, as tea extracts have been shown to decrease cells' sensitivity to the chemotherapy.
Other Benefits
Green tea has anti-inflammatory properties that can relieve the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease. It can also be useful for diabetics in controlling blood sugar and glucose in the body. Men who drink more than 10 cups of green tea per day are less likely to develop liver disease. Older people can drink green tea to protect against developing Parkinson's disease and to alleviate dizziness associated with low blood pressure, according to the National Institutes of Health.
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