Healing Food: Green Tea
Straight from a cup or added to a favorite dish, drink in the healing properties of this global beverage every day
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The world’s second-most consumed beverage after water, green tea has vast health-giving potential, thanks to a substance in it called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG).
Studies show that EGCG lessens the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and certain cancers. It reduces the digestive tract’s absorption of cholesterol, lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol, and interferes with cancer cell growth rates, decreasing the risk of adult leukemia and the spread of breast cancer cells.
EGCG also impedes bone-eroding molecules that cause the joint inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis.
Choose It & Use It
Aim to drink 5 cups of green tea, steeped for 5 minutes, daily. Longer, hotter steeps add bitterness, but up the antioxidants. Grind green tea into spice rubs, infuse it into drinks, or use it as a cooking liquid or marinade.
If you’re not a fan of its grassy flavor, try a blend with a stronger flavor, such as pomegranate, or sneak the brew into smoothies, sauces, and grains.