If you haven't yet heard about the many health benefits of green tea, I highly recommend you take a moment to learn about this amazing beverage!

Please click on these links to discover some of the reported benefits of green tea:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potential_effects_of_tea_on_health

http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa011400a.htm

Excerpt from the second link above, to follow:

To sum up, here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful:

• cancer
• rheumatoid arthritis
• high cholesterol levels
• cariovascular disease
• infection

• impaired immune function

The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots.  The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.

Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the "French Paradox." For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans. The answer was found to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet.  In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas determined that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.

(End excerpt from the second website link above)

I will say that I am a coffee drinker in the morning, but I enjoy hot green tea in the afternoon and evening. With so many incredible health benefits being potentially gained from the consumption of green tea, why wouldn't you drink it every day? My father's side of the family has a history of heart disease and my mother's side of the family has a history of cancer. So, in many respects I would have to be crazy not to drink green tea as often as I can!

One of my favorite things after a good dinner is to enjoy some hot green tea and a square block (or two) of Hershey's Dark Chocolate. I get the huge/oversized dark chocolate bars and break off the rectangular pieces.

I hope you are able to research the health benefits of green tea and then feel compelled to include it, and enjoy it as part of your daily diet!

Kirk Westervelt

Keller Williams Realty

Greenville, SC

(864) 451-2402

kirk@kwrealtyagent.com

www.upstatehomesearch.com