The paleo diet has been known to provide significant health benefits, but it’s essential to remember that what you drink with your food is also critical for your body’s well-being. One beverage that has tremendous health effects is tea, which over the past 30 years has been found to help with several diseases, and even keep your weight at a healthy level. The polyphenols in tea can assist in preventing heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis. Tea can also improve your attention span, mood, and problem-solving abilities.
Tea For Weight Management
Tea contains natural chemicals called polyphenols that, along with caffeine, help your body produce extra energy and oxidize fat. A series of studies found that drinking tea can help you burn off an extra 100 calories a day. Studies have also shown that just adding green tea to people’s diets helps them lose an average of about three pounds in three months. A test of tea’s effects on body fat showed that it increased the oxidation of fat by 16 percent.
Cancer Fighters
The polyphenols in tea can also protect against certain cancers. One study showed that supplementing with 600 mg a day of green tea polyphenols (called catechins) slowed the growth of prostate cancer significantly. Other studies have shown that the natural substances in various types of tea perform anti-cancer functions when you drink these beverages. They take action against lung cancer, cancers of the digestive tract, skin cancer, and breast cancer.
Tea’s natural substances perform their anti-cancer feats by being antioxidants, improving the effects of chemotherapy, and inhibiting growth factor signaling (actions that would otherwise promote cancer).
A Friend Of The Heart
Numerous studies show that tea reduces blood pressure, lowers the risk of heart disease, reduces your chances of a heart attack, lowers your risk of a stroke, and keeps your cardiovascular system operating normally. In one study, black tea was found to reduce blood pressure, protect against hypertension from fatty meals, and improve blood flow in blood vessels.
Drinking as little as one cup of tea per day supports healthy arterial function and blood pressure, according to Claudio Ferri, M.D of the University L’Aquila, Italy.
Better Bones
Tea can even improve your bone strength. One experiment found that if you drink tea and you are over 50 years old, you can reduce your chances of a hip fracture by about 30 percent. Another study showed that postmenopausal women taking a green tea extraction of 500 mg a day (found in about five cups of tea) increased their bone formation, decreased harmful inflammation, and improved their muscle strength.
Tea Fits Your Brain To A ‘T’
If you want a better functioning brain, studies show that tea goes to your head. Research on attention span shows that tea boosts attention and helps you focus on mentally challenging tasks. Researchers have found that tea’s amino acid theanine, along with caffeine, helps improve your intellectual capabilities.
All of this research confirms tea as a reliable paleo drink that helps keep your body in optimal shape. Jeffrey Blumberg, a nutrition professor with Tufts, points out, “Humans have been drinking tea for some 5,000 years, dating back to the Paleolithic period. Modern research is providing proof that there are real health benefits to gain from enjoying this ancient beverage.”
