You might want to consider replacing your Green Eggs and Ham with Green Tea and Ham the next time you break your fast in the morning - or any other time, for that matter. It appears that a green tea diet may hold at least a few properties of those golden elixirs, fountains of youth, and magic potions we've all heard about over the years. Here are just a few:
Staving off Alzheimer's - A green tea diet may delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease. A British study found that drinking green tea inhibited three important brain-battering chemicals: acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and beta-secretase. Before you get your tongue twisted around your eye teeth and can't see what your saying with these three-dollar words, all you really need to know is that they are three chemical culprits associated with breaking down chemical messengers and forming plaques and protein deposits in the noggin's gray matter - definite hindrances to crystal clear thinking.
Fighting Flu - Incorporating a green tea diet to your daily intake of consumables may also be a key flu-fighting strategy, according to researchers. Drinking green tea stimulates those heroic gamma-delta T-cells provided gratis from Mother Nature that boost immunity against viruses. There's a remarkable substance in green tea called L-theanine that triggers the T cells to secrete a staggering 10 times their normal output of virus-battling interferon. Even gargling with green tea coats the oral cavity's membranes with one of green tea's potent components - catechins - which successfully neutralizes the vicious virus.
Battling the Bulge - A recent scientific paper from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concludes that a green tea diet increases metabolism and oxidizes fat - without raising heart rates. The heart-rate item merits significance because increased heart rates can lead to adverse cardiac effects. Since there are only two ways to get rid of fat - decreasing food intake (diet) or increasing energy expenditure (exercise) - this makes green tea a much-needed helper for those unable to do the former (diet), at least successfully. And to expend energy without putting a load on the ticker makes green tea even that much more a winning alternative to stimulant-laden weight-loss concoctions.
Love the idea of a green tea diet but can't stand the taste of tea? Don't despair. There's hope for you, yet! Green tea extract comes in pill form, as well, so you'll need to come up with some other excuse! Taken as a dietary supplement, green tea extract usually comes in 500 mg. capsules taken two or three times daily. Now, that's not hard, is it? And no bitter-beer-face aftertaste, either!
So whether you take pills or sip it from a cup, the benefits gained from a green tea diet cannot be ignored. Well, they can, but that would be stupid, right? And since you're smart enough to be reading this great article, that proves you've got a leg up in the brains department (please don't take that literally!). But I digress. The point here is to consume green tea - one way or another. And if you're not willing to give up the green eggs with your ham, well, then, at least add green tea to the meal. But if the ham is green ... toss it!
See also: Benefits of Green Tea