The right stroke
Here’s one we have all been looking forward to — an excuse to up our caffeine intake. A recently conducted study by The Japan Public Health Center revealed that those who drink more green tea and coffee have a lower risk of getting cardiovascular diseases and strokes. The study was conducted on 82,369 Japanese people over a course of 13 years.
The fat truth
Wonder why that diet isn’t helping you shed those stubborn kilos? It c o u l d just be because of those tasty cups of java. According to Western Australian Institute for Medical Research and the University of Western Australia’s School of Medicine and P h a rmac o logy, the overconsumption of chlorogenic acid, a compound found in coffee, prevents weight loss.
Tea, on the other hand, may contribute to losing weight. In a Dr Oz Show last year, Bryce Wylde, a Canadian alternative medicine expert, recommended certain types for losing weight. Pur-er should be drunk in the morning as it shrinks fat cells and revs up metabolism; white tea at lunch to reduce fat storage; chickweed tea for bloating in the afternoon (one cup); and bilberry tea in the evening (one cup) as it is rich in antioxidants and helps curb cravings.
Hard workers or slackers?
According to a recent study published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacolory, excess consumption of tea, coffee or soft drinks, which are caffeine-rich could be responsible for turning hard workers into slackers. However, it is not rumoured to make lazy workers active. Stimulants such as amphetamines (found in sugar), on the other hand, do, Live Science reports. In the study, conducted by the University of British Columbia, 20 rats were tested in a controlled environment and results showed that stimulants such as caffeine and amphetamines resulted in more impulsive and quicker reactions. But when the hard working rats ate either, they had lazy response times. Sugar in your tea? Don’t mind if we do.
Cancer beat
In today’s world where cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death (WHO reported 7.6 million deaths because of cancer in 2008), superfood rich in antioxidants is a wise bet. A new study by Israel’s Institute of Technology now proves that green tea has a chemical called polyphenols, which destroys a number of compounds that can cause bad breath, tooth decay and even mouth cancer.
Coffee too may be a wonder drink —with reports that claim everything from it halving breast cancer chances to lowering the chances of prostrate cancer by 20 per cent, reports Daily Mail. While the reasons for this are not clear, one theory is that the beverage may boost the levels of adiponectin (protein) found in the body, which has been shown to have powerful anti-cancer properties.
Kidney trouble
What do tea and kidney stones have in common? Dr John Milner, an urologist at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, said iced tea contains high concentrations of oxalate, a chemical that can lead to kidney stones. “People are told that in the summertime they should drink more fluids,” Milner said in a statement to the Daily News. “A lot of people choose to drink more iced tea, because it is low in calories and tastes better than water. However, in terms of kidney stones, they might be doing themselves a disservice.”
