Green tea is great for its numerous health benefits: it’s been linked to burning fat, raising metabolism, lowering cholesterol, as well as improving the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol, preventing cancer, and preventing neurogenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Researchers have also claimed that drinking 5 cups of green tea a day helps the body burn an extra 70-80 calories per day. Green tea has about a quarter of the caffeine content of coffee, so dangers of the so called “caffeine overdose” that I have heard in criticism of green tea diets are just plain not there.

Green tea has so many health benefits because green tea contains the anti-oxidant EGCG. EGCG not only inhibits the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. Green tea even contains more antioxidants than many fruits and vegetables. Additionally, green tea can help prevent heart disease because it contains polyphenols, which lower cholesterol levels. This is one of the reasons why the rate of heart disease in Japanese men is quite low despite 75% being smokers.