Green tea is one of the healthiest teas (and drinks for that matter) that you can consume.  That’s a very strong statement, but I stand by it.  I have yet to come across a beverage (or chemical for that matter) that has so many health benefits with little or no negative side effects.

Well, after reading this quick summary of the benefits of green tea (http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa011400a.htm) I’ve been trying to drink at least 3 cups of tea a day.  I’ve calculated that it’s about 360mg of the powerful EGCG antioxidants.  Although that’s not as great as most supplements out there which can contain a gram or more of the stuff, it’ll work for now since 1) I cannot drink coffee on a regular basis, so tea is my stand-in, and 2) there’s something about drinking it naturally as opposed to taking a supplement, which I’m hoping will have some additional benefit.   Maybe there’s some additional chemicals in the tea which work together with the EGCG, who knows?  There’s really only one way to find out either way, and that’s to drink the stuff on a regular basis.

It’s been 2 months into my “3 cups of green tea a day” campaign.  Thus far I’m averaging 2.333 cups a day.  That’s only counting weekdays since I only drink tea at work.  So if I continue at this pace, I should be able to bring the average up to the ‘effective’ amount.  This is particularly important to me because a variety of cancers run in my family as well as diabetes.  While there have not been any links between green tea and diabetes, there have been between green tea and cancer, since the EGCG protects cellular DNA from free radicals and hinders the growth of cancer cells.

Thus far I have had no negative side effects.  The caffiene it contains is minimal (30 mg / 8 oz hot serving) according to my Lipton Green Tea with Lemon and Ginseng box.  30mg is nothing, especially for someone like me who can down several hundred milligrams just to be alert.

One last note regarding the amount of antioxidants.  I’ve noticed that the flavored variations of green tea (such as my lemon-ginsend and vanilla caramel truffle) decreases as you add additional ingredients.  I’ve attributed this to the simple fact that there has to be less tea in the tea bag to make room for the flavoring agents.  It’s a signicant decrease (200mg in 8oz of regular green tea as opposed to 120mg in Lemon-Ginseng Green Tea) but it doesn’t hurt to mix it up.  After all, you’re more likely to drink more of something you like that not (obviously).

CORRECTION: Water is the healthiest liquid you can drink.  Green Tea would have to be #2