More tea is drunk around the world than any other beverage except water. Green tea is from the same plant as black tea, but green tea wasn't fermented before it was dried. It contains more polyphenols than other types of tea. These antioxidants have a number of potential health benefits, including lowering risk for high cholesterol and cancer and a possible effect on blood pressure.
Green Tea and High Cholesterol
Drinking green tea may lower both your LDL cholesterol and your total cholesterol while raising your HDL cholesterol. Polyphenols may decrease cholesterol absorption in the intestines and make it more likely to be excreted by the body, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Green Tea and Blood Pressure
Some elderly people have low blood pressure after they finish eating a meal. Consuming green tea may help to normalize this low blood pressure and make them less likely to become light-headed or dizzy when they stand up, according to Medline Plus. People who have high blood pressure may want to avoid drinking large amounts of green tea, since it may raise blood pressure.
Green Tea and Cancer
Green tea may lower the risk for certain cancers, including bladder, breast, colon, esophagus, lung, pancreas, skin and stomach cancers. However, evidence is conflicting, with some studies showing that green tea is beneficial and others showing either no effect or even an increased risk from drinking green tea, according to the American Cancer Society.
Considerations
It can take a lot of green tea to get the potential benefits. The commonly used dose for reducing cholesterol is 10 cups per day, and that for reducing cancer risk ranges from 3 to 10 cups per day, depending on the type of cancer. However, drinking more than 5 cups of green tea per day can cause side effects due to the caffeine it contains.
Expert Insight
Adding vitamin C to your tea in the form of lemon or other citrus juice can greatly increase the bioavailability of catechins, one type of antioxidant found in green tea that may help to decrease cancer risk, according to research by Rodney J. Green published in the journal "Molecular Nutrition & Food Research" in 2007. Adding milk to your tea can also increase the catechins your body absorbs, but not as much as adding juices.
