Green Tea benefits

It tastes like dishwater

Well, that's what I think about normal green tea - the stuff you can buy in the normal type of tea bags. I think it's far too bitter and even if all the health benefits are true, I don't think it would be sustainable to drink something I genuinely dislike. 

However, whilst I dislike normal green tea, I actually really like jasmine tea - I find all of the bitterness has gone and it's much more gentle. Some may dislike it as it's more fragrant, I guess that's just personal taste, however if you've only tried the normal green tea, I would certainly suggest you give jasmine tea and perhaps, other flavours a try before you write off green tea entirely. 

So why am I drinking it? Well, I guess the first reason is because I actually like it! As I said at the beginning of my weight loss journey, I wasn't going to force myself to eat or drink anything I didn't like.

Any other reasons? Well, if the science behind green tea is to be believed, green tea has a number of health benefits.

1. Weight Loss - It is thought that the antioxidants catechins and caffeine in green tea may have a role in helping the body burn more calories (However there have been studies that say that's not necessarily the case - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD008650.pub2/abstract

2. Lower cholestrol - It is thought that green tea could help lower cholesterol and blood pressure thanks to its catechins 

3. Can protect against Alzheimer's disease - Tea is rich in antioxidants which protect against the nerve cell death associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

However... Science is changing every day. Some research institutes say these aren't proven, some say they are and some say they could be true, however longer term studies are needed. If it's not true, why would you force yourself to drink something that doesn't taste nice for potentially no benefit at all?

I'm drinking 1 cup a day in the morning at the moment... I don't know if it's going to have any positive affect on me, however I feel good about myself and that's all that matters :-)