Igor MarcikicI see a lot of websites and authors nowadays talking about green tea, listing its benefits as far as the eye can see. This got me interested, and I wanted to dig a bit deeper and see if all this is just marketing hype or is this tea as good as people seem to give it credit.
So, today, I wanted to present you with the results of my research, hoping to shed some light on it and its “magical properties.” Also, since our website is more geared towards men, I steered my research more towards green tea benefits for men.
But first, let’s talk a bit about tea history...
Tea History
Of course, tea has been around for centuries, and it is so widespread that it is the most widely consumed beverage, second only to water. It comes to us in three different varieties:
- 1Green
- 2Black and
- 3Oolong
Today we will only be addressing the benefits of green tea extract, which is, according to studies, the healthiest of the three. The “secret” behind its popularity and extensive use is the way it is prepared – it is made from unfermented leaves only and, for this reason, green tea contains the highest concentration of antioxidants.
Antioxidants are responsible for fighting free radicals in the body. Free radicals are chemicals accountable for cellular and DNA damage and can lead to degeneration of the cells or even their death. In fact, they are believed to be responsible for aging.
The plant was initially grown in Eastern Asia, but it quickly spread across entire Asia, Middle East, and Africa.
Green Tea Benefits For Men
I already stated that this tea offers so many health benefits that it would probably take me a whole day to list them all, which is why we are going to focus our attention to one area – men`s health, and cover benefits related to this gender.
Antioxidants Concentration
I`ve already stated that green tea offers the highest concentration of antioxidants of the three tea choices, but does this mean it is the healthiest? Well, it probably does since, according to the words of John Weisburger, Ph.D., a senior researcher at the Institute for Cancer Prevention in Valhalla in N.Y, green tea will block DNA damage to the cells related to tobacco and other harmful chemicals.
These antioxidants will also lower the risk of blood clot forming, and reduce the risks of atherosclerosis and certain types of cancer. There are also some studies showing drinking tea will boost your metabolism, help with the weight loss, protect your bones, improve the appearance and health of the skin.
So how many cups should you drink? – As many as you can, up to 10 a day, but it depends on the amount of coffee you drink!
Male Pattern Baldness
This is quite an interesting topic, and I went to great lengths to try and find studies linking these two. I came across many individuals stating that green tea will stop pattern baldness while others said it would cause it. Of course, I wouldn`t go so far as to say it will completely take care of the hair loss problem, but I found a promising animal case study conducted by the National Medical Association.
The title of the study is “The effects of tea polyphenolic compounds on hair loss among rodents” (polyphenolic compounds are natural plant compounds found believed in providing specific health benefits). The study was conducted on 60 female black mice which had developed a spontaneous hair loss across the body, divided into two groups of 30 – one received a fraction of polyphenolic compounds dehydrated from green tea which was mixed in the drinking water, and the other, control group, was drinking “regular” water.
After six months, the results were in, and 30{285d6d0ec33f832d63ba71e7361dfa254e621171fe0222a0c97ebd34aa916c6a} of mice in the group who received polyphenolic compounds showed a significant hair regrowth. While the group drinking only water had no hair regrowth. Even though this is a convincing study, it was done on rodents, and I struggled to find full research papers on its effect on humans, according to the most reputable health-related websites currently online, green tea showed some results in fighting and preventing male pattern baldness and alopecia.
Does Tea Influence Mental Clarity?
There are still not enough data to show a conclusive link between green tea and mental clarity and overall health, but I managed to find one study to determine the suggested positive mental and psychological effects of green tea in Japan.
The results were a bit disappointing since the daily consumption of this tea was not statistically related to the decrease in the risk of mental illnesses.
Though drinking it may improve your mental awareness, this is due to its caffeine content.
Estrogen Hormone In Men
You might think that estrogen is a hormone exclusively reserved for women, but this is not entirely true. It is a well-known and documented fact that high levels of estrogen in men may cause prostate cancer, andropause (male menopause), loss of erectile strength, and libido.
However, a link between green tea (supplementation) and estrogen is very weak – some researchers feel that daily consumption may influence the metabolism of estrogen and reduce the risk of illness, but this link is far too weak to make any bold claims.
Using Green Tea For Male Fertility?
We`ve already stated that green tea contains a high concentration of powerful antioxidants. Well, the use of antioxidants is widespread pharmacological measure intended to limit infertility in men. They will, not only relieve stress but also increase the quality of semen, improve the erection vascular tone and address erectile dysfunction (from what I found this is a general opinion, I did not come across studies backing it up).
I also read some questions regarding the link between green tea male enhancement, and even though it sounds ridiculous, I attempted to uncover studies addressing this issue but failed to come across any.
Metabolism In Men
In this section, we will be talking about green tea metabolism with regards to weight loss, bone metabolism, and drug metabolism.
References:
http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features
http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file={285d6d0ec33f832d63ba71e7361dfa254e621171fe0222a0c97ebd34aa916c6a}2FPHN{285d6d0ec33f832d63ba71e7361dfa254e621171fe0222a0c97ebd34aa916c6a}2FPHN8_08{285d6d0ec33f832d63ba71e7361dfa254e621171fe0222a0c97ebd34aa916c6a}2FS1368980005001564a.pdf&code=5bc3708e1449300c0e7fa9d615b280fd http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/35209/PDF
