Green Tea Diet
To go on a green tea diet does not mean to go on a liquid diet where all you are allowed to consume is green tea. It rather means to enrich your diet with green tea in order to enjoy the benefits that green tea offers. These benefits include the provision with antioxidants which help to fight free radicals in your body, as well as the increase of metabolic rates and fat burning abilities. If you decide to go on a green tea diet, you can either brew hot teas, enjoy cold green tea drinks, or take green tea diet supplements. Below, some examples are given:
Brewing Tea
The most common way to start a green tea diet is to brew a cup of green tea, using either a tea bag or leaves and hot water. Most people in Asia don’t use prepackaged tea bags at all. They prefer tea leaves, as in Asia it is known that tea leaves need room to expand and impart their aroma to the water, so they don’t like to use tea balls either. For everyone else who doesn’t like loose leaves to float around in the cup, besides tea bags and tea balls, there are also mesh infusers, tea socks, and basket filters to cope with that problem. If unsweetened green tea isn’t to your taste, you may of course add sugar, honey, or artifical sweetener.
Cold Tea Beverages
To make your own cold tea drink, simply allow your brewed tea to cool, pour ice in it or pour it over ice and enjoy a light, refreshing drink that tastes delicious and is healthy. Of course, you can also buy cold tea drinks. There is a great variety of different green tea drinks on the market. They can be bought almost everywhere, from grocery stores to gas stations. In some coffee stores you are offered specialty blended green tea smoothies and iced creations. Actually, there is a great assortment of green tea drinks for you to choose from, so your green tea diet will never get dull.
Green Tea Diet Supplements
Green tea extract, the essence of green tea, is containted in an assortment of dietary additives, even in many multi-vitamin products. There are some things to consider when incorporating supplements into your diet. Most people are not aware of the fact that herbs contain active substances that can trigger side effects and interact with other substances like other herbs, supplements, or medications. For these reasons, green tea in any form should be taken with care and it is advised to consult a licensed health care professional before using any herbal supplement. Be aware that the caffeine contained in green tea may cause insomnia, irritability, heart palpitation, and dizziness.
If you bear all this in mind, however, green tea can be a great addition to your daily diet to improve your overall wellbeing and health.