Green Tea for Anti-aging

by Jane Santos
(Philippines)

Green tea has been widely used for weight loss. Available in capsule form from many different companies, green tea extracts act as a metabolism booster if you take enough of it. Its active ingredients are catechins, and one American study found that taking it at every meal upped the number of calories burnt by more than 40 percent. And now, new studies are showing that green tea may also be used against premature aging.

If you look at most anti-aging creams and products, it turns out that green tea extract is the common ingredient. Green tea has the super-antioxidant EGCG, which puts a stop and even reverses the effects of oxidation. Oxidation is the underlying cause of aging which causes premature sun damage and wrinkling.

Aside from creams containing green tea extracts, research has revealed that people who drink or consume about three to four cups of green tea a day have reduced occurrence of cancer and other degenerative diseases. Another strict double blind placebo trial carried out in Japan in 2005 found that after 12 weeks of taking green tea, volunteers’ weight, waist sizes, body mass index (BMIs) were all reduced while skin elasticity was enhanced. The group that was taking fairly high doses of green tea, about 690 mg a day, got the best results.

Drinking green tea has so many good benefits for our health. The anti-oxidants in green tea fight the signs of aging. It generally stops inflammation from its source. It stops DNA from damage and it literally stops the sun from burning the skin. So it’ a no-brainer that green tea is perfect for the skin.

Although more studies are needed to prove that green tea can ultimately work against aging, green tea still shows great promise.

Look for creams and products with green tea extracts as the main product. If you examine the labels and find that green tea is at the bottom of the ingredient list, forgo it. You might be better off drinking the tried and true green tea rather than applying creams containing it on your face.

Also look for products that contain other proven anti-oxidants like Vitamin C, E and folic acid.

Women are obsessed with anti-aging. Americans spend more than 40 billion dollars each year on anti-aging products, and nearly nine million people have gone under the knife. But now that more and more studies are surfacing proving that common ingredients like green tea and Vitamin C could repair our skin, diminish wrinkles and even out skin color without going undergoing age reversal plastic surgery.

A healthy lifestyle can be your best bet against aging. Eating the right kind of foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, daily exercise, a simple beauty regimen that includes using sun protection and drinking anti-oxidant supplements with green tea and a positive outlook in life can take years off your face and body. Expensive creams can only do so much but if you eat the wrong foods, smoke and sleep late most nights, you will never achieve younger looking skin.