The health benefits of chai green tea come from the beverage's two components, spices and tea. In much of the world, the word chai means tea. In India, it is an aromatic spiced beverage of tea, spices and milk. Though the spices vary among regions, the common spices include cinnamon, ginger, cloves and pepper. With the growing popularity of chai in Western cultures has come adaptations such as using green tea instead of a rich black tea to make chai.
Provides Antioxidant Protection
Green tea comes from unfermented tea leaves and has the highest concentration of antioxidants called polyphenols. Cinnamon, cloves and ginger are sources of antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body against damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals are substances that either occur naturally in the body or are found in the environment such as the sun's ultraviolet rays, cigarette smoke and air pollution. Polyphenols in green tea provide cancer protection, possibly by destroying cancerous cells and impeding their progression. Green tea appears to protect the liver from the damaging effects of toxic substances such as alcohol.
Reduces the Risk of Heart Disease
Information on the University of Michigan Medical School website points to green tea's ability to help lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Green tea appears to lower total cholesterol levels while raising high-density lipoprotein levels also referred to as good cholesterol and decreasing low-density lipoprotein levels or the bad cholesterol.
Relieving Gastrointestinal Distress
Cinnamon and ginger aid digestion. Both spices are an herbal remedy for indigestion, relieving the severity of nausea associated with morning sickness during pregnancy and reducing flatulence.
Natural Cold Remedy
The primary antioxidant in green tea appears to prevent influenza viruses from adhering to cell membranes and inhibit the replication of virus cells that have already infected healthy cells. This evidence resulted from laboratory research conducted by Jae-Ming Song and colleagues at Yonsei University in South Korea. The academic report was published in June 2005 in the journal, Antiviral Research. The antiviral property of ginger boost the immune system and may protect you from getting the common cold. Natural herbal cold remedies include cinnamon and suggest that this spice reduces a fever and shortens the duration of a cold.
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