10,000,000,000
Ten Billion is the number of green tea drinks consumed in America each year.
So, are all of these drinks healthy?
Would you be surprised that the answer is no?
Green teas vary wildly from one brand to the next.
You have many bottled or canned options which are nothing more than sugary water, lacking any real antioxidant content. These antioxidants are the reason green tea is world renowned for its health benefits.
So, how do you wade through the swamp of junk tea to find the hidden gems?
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In an article published by WebMD Health News Aug. 23, 2010:
“Consumers understand very well the concept of the health benefits from drinking tea or consuming other tea products,” says Shiming Li, PhD, of the New Jersey-based life sciences company WellGen Inc. “However, there is a huge gap between the perception that tea consumption is healthy and the actual amount of the healthful nutrients — polyphenols — found in bottled tea beverages. Our analysis of tea beverages found that the polyphenol content is extremely low.”
The study involved the measuring of polyphenol content in six major brands of bottled tea.
Of the six choices the highest level was 81 mg of polyphenols per 16 oz. bottle, while the lowest was a meager 3 mg per bottle.
In contrast, a single cup of fresh brewed green tea clocks in between 50-150 mg per cup.
“Someone would have to drink bottle after bottle of these teas in some cases to receive health benefits,” Li says. “I was surprised at the low polyphenol content. I didn’t expect it to be at such a low level.”
Even the most potent of teas begin to oxidize and degrade when they are mixed with water. This is particularly important when the bottle of tea you grab from the QuickyMart was bottled weeks or even months ago, leaving little to no nutritional value. You do still get the added sugar, though.
For example, a 16 oz bottle of Snapple Lemon Iced Tea contains 46 grams of sugar. This is the equivalent of nearly 15 sugar cubes.
Be careful that your next “healthy” green tea selection isn’t just glorified sugar-water.
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