Thursday, June 4, 2009

Lower Blood Sugar with Green Tea


Green tea is known for many things such as being a strong defense against diseases and conditions such as cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and obesity. Now there is evidence that it may help people with diabetes or pre-diabetic conditions.

According to researchers, it can indeed lower blood sugar levels. Studies show that green tea reduces the spike of glucose and insulin when taken with sugar compared to ingesting sugar alone. The main ingredient EGCG is also known to reduce the amount of glucose that goes into your blood stream.

It goes further than that. When sugar is taken into your body, your body releases an enzyme to break it down so that it can be absorbed into your blood stream. The properties of EGCG inhibit the release of this enzyme by as much as 70-80%. This is great news for diabetics or those who are at risk of developing diabetes.

Diabetes starts when there are too many spikes in blood sugars as a result of eating too many simple carbohydrates, lack of exercise, and bad habits such as smoking. Eventually, either insulin production becomes lowered and/or cells become resistant to insulin which leaves blood sugar levels to elevate.

This results in your ability to manage blood sugar being compromised. The job of insulin is to convert sugar into the cells of your body to use as energy. But when your body becomes insulin resistant, your cells begin to depend on fat for energy and the sugar you eat stays in your blood which leads to serious conditions.

The elevation of blood sugar levels eventually lead to the damage of blood vessels and hemorrhages. This can lead to your arteries being damaged which can increase the risk of heart disease and other problems. Also you will suffer from circulation problems, which is why many patients with diabetes lose movement or blood flow to their limbs.

Green tea can help boost insulin function and also help blood sugar levels. Studies have found that Polysaccharides in green tea also have the same ability to regular blood sugar as insulin. This proves that this amazing drink has multiple ways of combating and treating diabetes.

Also remember, it also boosts your metabolism. Green tea pills and weigh loss is another area in which this extract is particularly successful. It increases your body's ability to burn calories and in turn helps get rid of more fat. The cells in your body will need to start depending on glucose rather than fat (which is one of the reasons why obesity is linked to diabetes).

The answer to the question 'Does green tea lower blood sugar?' is a definite yes but as you can see it has other associated health benefits as well. It is really beneficial to your overall diet and to a healthy lifestyle.

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