Time for coffee and tea
Green tea nutrition
Many people know about the health benefits of green tea and that they are mainly derived from antioxidants, essential oils and caffeine. But what of the nutritional benefits?
Well, green tea has a very low calorie content and does of course contain a lot of water, which is recommended by many dietitians to have 8 glasses of a day. Other than that green tea contains vitamins C, B and E. It has many minerals, especially beneficial are Manganese, Zinc, Chromium and selenium. Tea is a rich source of Manganese.
Of these minerals manganese is beneficial to humans as it is required for the control of the metabolism of carbohydrates and cholesterol. Zinc, Chromium and selenium are also involved in metabolism and have been linked to oxidative disease. Many of these minerals have been reported to have positive effects when taking as a dietary supplement.
1. A supplementation of Chromium has been shown to alter the bodies tolerance to glucose and is therefore thought to be beneficial to people who may suffer from diabetes.
2. Selenium is present at around 90ng/g in green jasmine and sencha tea leaves. Selenium is known to play a role as a cofactor of glutathione peroxidase in the removal of free radicals, and is thought to have a role in the prevention of cancers.
3. Zinc, which is present at between 45 and 79 micrograms per gram in green Jasmine tea has many roles. These include carbohydrate metabolic processes and the regulation of protein synthesis.
4. Manganese is present at around 300 to 750 micrograms in Jasmine tea. Its health benefits were mentioned above.
It can be seen that the consumption of green tea can go along way towards getting your daily needs of these essential minerals.
Green tea is also a source of vitamin C and vitamin E, and contains a much greater amount than is found in black tea; this is because of the fermentation step that is involved in the production of black tea.
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