Most popular drink in the world: Tea
Tea is considered the most consumed beverage in the world behind water, however 78% of the tea consumed worldwide is black and only about 20% is green. Tea is not only one of the most consumed beverages, it’s one of the most studied for it’s health benefits. Green tea especially though, is known to have a huge array of health benefits, from fighting cancer or diabeties, to even losing weight!
There have been more than 3,000 published research studies that evaluate the role tea—whether white, green, oolong or black—and tea compounds, such as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), may play in various forms of cancer. Benefits to gastrointestinal health gained by tea-drinking seem to be cumulative and dependent upon the amount of tea consumed per day as well as the number of tea-drinking years. One study found that women who drank the equivalent of 2.5 cups of tea per day had a 60% reduction in rectal cancer risk, compared with women who consumed less than 1.2 cups of tea daily.[4] An additional study found that tea drinkers have an approximate 42% reduced risk of colon cancer compared to non-tea drinkers. Men who drank more than 1.5 cups of tea per day were found to have a 70% lower risk of colon cancer.[5] Another study showed that participants who drank iced black tea and citrus peel had a 42% reduced risk of skin cancer[6] and that hot black tea consumption was associated with a significantly lower risk of the most common form of skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma.[7] Even more recently, a study published in the February 2015 issue of the Journal of Molecular Nutrition and Food Research found that the main antioxidant in green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), helps kill cancer cells through the destruction of the cells’ mitochondria.
Cool post, do you mind if I link to it from my new blog/tea shop?
Its called Lovely Tea Teas? Thanks in advance – Oliver aka Mr Tea