Green Tea
Every where we look we seem to hear something about Green Tea. Next to water it is the most consumed beverage in the world. It has been around for 4000 years and so it is not new. What is new is researchers' interest in its abilities to fight disease. A quick querry on a medical search engine shows that hundreds of articles have been published in the last few years on the health effects of green tea. One may even notice that green tea extract is being sold in stores. When green tea is sold as an extract it is known as a "nutraceutical". Nutraceuticals are extracts and herbs that are sold over the counter. They are not evaluated by the FDA and therefore their safety profile is not well known. Also, there is no guarantee of the purity of the product. That said, green tea appears to be quite safe. It does contain caffeine and therefore one must be careful not to consume too much. It also may reduce your appetite which may not necessarily be a bad thing. It has been shown to prevent arthritis and studies are so promising that human trials are now underway evaluating its safety and efficacy. It has also been purported to reduce cancer (particularily prostate and colon) risk, reduce cholesterol, and reduce the risk of dementia. If these claims are even half true it would be of great benefit. Epidemiologic studies suggest that 3 cups a day is the "dose". At this amount, it is very unlikely to have any drug intereractions or side effects. Green tea and black tea are the same plant prepared different ways. Based on these studies, you may want to consider substituting green tea for coffee and soda since these two drinks haven't been shown help us and may even lead to significant weight gain in the case of sod