Green tea leaves are essentially the vegetative portion of Camellia sinensis plant that has undergone minimal processing and not been allowed to mature and oxidize like other types of tea made from the same species of plant.
Green tea has been consumed for thousands of years in China and many other cultures in Asia from Japan to the Saudi Arabia.
In recent years, its popularity in Western countries had grown exponentially where black tea was more customarily served.
Although there are many types of green tea, they all originate from the same plant. Differences, in climate, location, harvesting and processing create the unique varieties grown.
Over the last 20 years, green tea has gained popularity because of the numerous touted health benefits attributed to the drink.
Green tea has been subjected to massive amounts of scientific and medical scrutiny over claims of lower chances for heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
Anecdotal evidence also supports that regular consumption of brewed green tea leaves may aid in the suppression of appetite and there fore may be useful in weight loss and management.
Data is still being gathered to support or refute those claims, but physicians and scientist alike do admit that green tea provides an above average amount of antioxidants and that aspect alone may indeed aid in improvement of cardiac function among regular green tea drinkers.
Green tea has also bee reported to aid in general digestive function, in treating neurological and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s and Multiple Sclerosis.
