Weight Loss, Purification, Health – A Short Guide to Green Tea

Green tea is no longer a mystical beverage only available in trendy cafes and specialist shops. In fact, today its popularity is so vast that it can be found in abundant variety on supermarket shelves and even alongside cappuccinos in coffee vending machines. So what led to this popularity, and why is green tea’s reputation more squeaky clean than a standard brew?

The history of green tea stems back as far as traditional consumption to China in around 2000bc. By the 12th Century it had begun to spread across the continent to Japan with the travels of Japanese Buddhist Priest Myaan Eisai; and onward to India and Thailand thereafter. The drinking of green tea in Japan has since become more part of everyday life and is considered in a similar manner to which black tea is in the west with varying quality and price differences.

All tea has been subject to extensive research regarding health benefits, but whilst black teas have been scientifically proven to lower coronary artery disease, the positive effects of green teas have long been regarded as diverse and far reaching. In further active promotion, Eisai wrote Book of Tea (Kissa Yojoki) in 1191, which promoted the positive effects of green tea on the body, most notably, vital organs such as the heart and brain.

In more recent years, many of these claims have been proven scientifically. In the so called ‘war against obesity’ in the UK, Birmingham University has found that green tea promotes the rate of fat oxidation by 17 percent. Similarly, the American Association for Cancer Research used Polyphenon E (a green tea property) in tests on rats and found that just under half of those tested were as likely to develop colon cancer.

Similarly, green tea has also increased in its popularity due to its lack of the stimulant caffeine and its calming properties because of this. Although black tea and coffee are well-known for their caffeine content ranging anywhere between 30 and 100 milligrams, on average green tea contains about 70 percent less and so is less likely to lead to a dependence (caffeinism). Additionally, there are many ways that green tea research is set to explore new further benefits, such as fighting LDL Cholesterol and stopping Parkinson’s Disease.

The Need To Lose Weight – Potential Health Problems Which Can Affect People Who Are Overweight

Despite big efforts and huge amounts of money being spent by western governments, people are still becoming more and more overweight. This article looks into why this might be happening and also about the health problems which can arise due to this increase in weight.

The problem with some forms of dieting

Many people follow a particular diet and after a few months have reached their ideal weight. They then relax and go back to living life as they had been before they started the diet. The result is that within only a short period of time, they will not only have put all of the weight back on, but that they are actually likely to be even more fatter than they were before they started the diet.

Your all round body shape is also likely to change, men can gain much larger waists and chins, women can see an increase in their bust, larger hips and bottom.

It is very difficult and you need to have a large amount of self-discipline, but it is important to remember that once you have reached a weight you are happy with, that you continue to follow the diet in some form. Going back to your old bad habits will only bring back the weight problem which you hated so much.

Once you have lost your excess weight, write down how great it makes you feel and how proud you are. Write about how you will never go back to your old way of living and about your plans for the future, as this new slimmer person that you have become.

At times you may lose focus and be tempted to go back to your bad habits, of over eating or over drinking of alcohol for example. This is when you read your journal and that should ensure that you quickly realise that the temptation is simply not worth it.

Health problems for people who are overweight:

I used to be far too fat and it caused me to have a low self-esteem. I had quite a hard time at school with people often teasing me and calling me names. I lost a lot of my confidence and soon started to spend much more time alone.

As I grew older I found it hard to meet girls. I believed that they would not want to date a man of my weight and my overall lack of confidence made it difficult to even approach and talk to them.

I found life to be quite tough due to my weight problem. I would often become depressed about how unfortunate I was and would stress about the future. Stressing is no good for ones health and would affect my sleep patterns. I would end up drinking alcohol as a form of comfort and as a way of getting to sleep. Looking back this seems so dangerous now, the alcohol itself was not exactly helping my weight problem and if I had not been careful it could have easily led to a dependancy on the alcohol.

Being overweight can lead to many health problems including:

Cancer

Strokes

Diabetes

Heart disease

It is now time to find a diet that works for you and to then be determined to stick to it. Good luck.

Jog Your Way to Better Health and Weight Loss

If you were thinking about starting up a daily jogging routine there are ways to make sure that you stick with it. Chances are if you haven’t jogged in a quite sometime you won’t make it very far without exhausting yourself. I would highly recommend that you do not do that.

Jogging can be fun if you want it to be. I associate the process of jogging with learning the piano. When I first started playing the piano it really wasn’t much fun. I had to learn how to coordinate my hands, know which key was which and so on. In other words I didn’t just sit down at the piano and start playing Mozart.

Jogging is the same way. You need to work yourself up to the point where it is fun. When does it become fun? It becomes fun when the ground seems to move effortlessly underneath your feet. This occurs by starting off slow.

Just like the piano example above when you begin your jogging program it will feel clumsy, you will feel out of shape, you will breathe heavier then you ever have before and it really won’t seem like fun. That is ok because you are going to work yourself through it.

Here is what you should do. Set small goals for you should achieve. On day one make the goal to jog at least halfway around the block, or a reasonable distance depending upon where you live. One day two the goal should be to make it five feet further than the previous day. On day three you should try to go five feet further than day two and so on. Each day you will be pushing yourself a little more, but not too much more, and will feel like you are accomplishing something.

Before you know it, your jog halfway around the block will be one whole block, then two, then three then a mile then two miles and so on. Eventually you will work yourself up to the point where you enjoy going jogging because you are getting some good exercise in and it makes you feel great.

Don’t forget to invest in an iPod or an MP3 player to bring some music along, or even some audio books, podcasts etc. It will make the time go by even faster.

As always do not forget to get a complete physical from your primary care physician. They will look you over, do some tests, and let you know how much you should exert yourself prior to beginning your jogging routine.