A Beneficial Switch -- From Sweet Iced Tea to Hot Green Tea

You can't live in Japan and not have access to green tea.  I firmly believe that it is as common as water.  In fact, some restaurants serve green tea instead of water as the complimentary beverage.  Kaiten Zushi (conveyor belt sushi) places are especially known for this.  You grab a cup, take a scoop of green tea powder from a box, and then add hot water from the spout that is in front of you.  I've long heard about the benefits of green tea, and below are a compiled list of the various benefits.

The article "Why Green Tea?" (from the blog LifeHack) offers a brief explanation of green tea benefits.
Here are the basics.  Green tea helps:

• weight loss, 
• blood pressure regulation, 
• tooth decay prevention, 
• cholesterol regulation, 
• skincare (topically), 
• heart disease prevention, 
• glucose level regulation, 
• some cancer prevention,
• brain repair, and 
• the over all immune system.

Warning: It's supposed to be a bitter drink that gives you energy.  I too occasionally crave the sugary goodness of SC tea (with a nice thick slice of pound cake -- yum!).  However, green tea doesn't do so well with other things added (Lipton iced tea with citrus, are you really green tea?).  In fact, I think it tastes worse.  There are a lot of varieties of green tea, so try a few (maybe from a health store or Asian market).  I'm currently drinking Sencha "Chiran" green tea from the Japanese tea company Lupicia.

Tip: Remove the tea bag immediately after it has seeped or it'll be too bitter.  You can reuse the tea bag for a good 2-4 cups (depending on the amount of leaves in the tea bag).

Suggestion: For a Southern claim to your green tea, Charleston Tea Plantation offers a green tea grown in South Carolina.

Photo: Green tea ceremony - matcha green tea is a bitter ceremonial tea in Japan.  To counter the bitter, you first eat a very sweet food generally called "wagashi".