The Chinese have used green tea as a medicine for more than 4,000 years Putting aside the fact that it’s been shown to reduce the risk of at least one kind of cancer, improve immune function, and fight rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, infection, and high cholesterol, it’s also possibly the greatest energy drink around.
And although green tea gets a lot of attention in the media, truth be told, almost any high-quality tea is great for energy and health. All (except yerba mate, see page 49) are made from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, and differ only in the amount of processing and fermentation that the leaves get. So although green, white, black, and oolong tea may differ a little bit in their health profiles, all are superb when it comes to giving you an energy boost, especially mid-afternoon!
So what’s so great about tea? Well, for me it has a terrific “brightening” effect without any of the jitters. Tea contains a substance called the-anine, an amino acid that is a natural relaxer with significant antianxiety properties. I believe that’s why tea drinkers rarely get the jitters even though they enjoy the increased mental acuity and sharpness that the caffeine delivers.
In addition to the many benefits tea has for your health, it boosts your metabolism, which can be great for both energy and weight loss. In one study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, one group of men was given some caffeine, and the other group the same amount of caffeine plus green tea. And guess what happened? The men who received green tea burned more calories than the men who were given the caffeine alone. So there’s something specific to green tea (besides caffeine) that helps boost metabolism.
My friend, nutritionist Shari Lieberman, Ph.D., C.N.S.., points out that studies in humans have shown that green tea increases the rate at which you burn calories and fat over a 24-hour period! Lieberman calls it one of her favorite supplements for weight loss.
And by the way, if you’re still worried about the caffeine, green tea has only on-third as much as coffee, and none of the toxins and acids that make cheap coffee a problem for many people. From a caffeine point of view, you could drink five cups of green tea a day for less than the caffeine load of one medium Starbucks! And that’s really not a problem for most people.
Studies show great benefits from drinking between three and five (or more) cups a day. You can make a big pitcher of the stuff and just drink it like water, all day long. Or even start by substituting one cup of green tea for your regular coffee. It’s soothing and calming, yet at the same time a fantastic energy booster. How great is that?
WORTH KNOWING
Herbal teas are’t really teas at all. They’re actually herbal infusions made from fresh or dried flowers, seeds, or roots-anything but the Camellia sinesis plant. Althought they’re perfectly lovely and may have other benefits, you won’t get th energy boost I’m talking about from using them.
My Favorite Teas
A personal note: Although I love the buzz of my daily Starbucks, around midday I nearly always switch to tea.
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