Drink to your health with green tea

Green tea, first savoured in China, is a favourite drink among Asians and is the second most popular beverage worldwide after water.

It has been said that green tea prevents cancer and heart disease and can help people to lose weight. But is it true?

Green tea is made by steaming or pan-heating fresh leaves from the Camellia Sinensis plant. This process helps to stop enzyme activity, thus preventing the leaves from fermenting and producing a tea with more polyphenols (compounds that help fight cancer-causing agents) and vitamin C compared to other types of tea.

Green tea contains many different nutrients, the primary one being a polyphenol called Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), which is an antioxidant.

Cancer is caused by an abnormal and uncontrollable division of cells with damaged DNA. Free radicals are atoms that can cause damage to body tissue and DNA, potentially leading to various diseases such as arthritis, heart disease and cancer.

Free radicals occur naturally in the body as a toxic byproduct from the body's metabolism but may multiply due to environmental and other factors such as high levels of stress, ultraviolet light, radiation, smoking and air pollution.

The polyphenols found in green tea are able to neutralise free radicals, thereby minimising their potential damage to the body. With less free radicals to do harm, the chance of cancer is reduced.