Drinking green tea

[notmymojo2]

Alright so im 21 and I'm roughly a half pack a day smoker and more then occasional drinker. About a month ago for the first time since I started smoking (which started at 14) I coughed up tar. It scared the hell out of me and I started looking up ways to cleanse my body of all the toxins that have built up. Well I stumbled upon green tea and the suppossive amazing benefits from green tea. So since that month has past all I've been drinking is green tea and water no pop not even really juice or anything. Still smoke still drink but I feel like incredibly better. Breathing better feel better sleep better like the list goes on. Even things like my libido seems to have increased. So my question is, is green tea really like this miracle drink or am I just overthinking everything. I'm shockingly curious if anyone has any input.

[hlpichada]

I have no idea of green tea and its benefits but if you want to stay healthy and strong I would recommend astragalus. Trust me with this, you will feel like a reborn

[Paxiled]

Look, astragalus can be fine when you need a boost to your immune system, sure, but don't oversell things.  It isn't some miracle substance.  It's virtually always used in formula, not by itself, and it has no connection whatever to what green tea does for you.  I use it when I feel sick or run down in a formula for the immune system, so I'm not opposed to it, I use it, but again, for anyone reading, it's unlikely you'll even notice it if you take it.  For me, the formula does seem to shorten the duration of illness, so it has some wonderful properties.  It is adaptogenic, but not energizing as other adaptogens can be.  Lots of things out there have a place, but I'm not one for exaggerating benefits.  Peace, all.

[betty1973510]

Your best bet to save your heart take Fish oil best thing i take daily.

[JD3P]

I would keep drinking the green tea. I switched from coffee to green tea about four years ago, because of anxiety and dehydration. I use organic tea, which is the same price and right next to regular tea, and drink it with organic raw honey. I skip the milk. It has amazing benefits and a lot of antioxidants. This combined with other “super foods” can really be good for you. Obviously try to quit smoking, but I think incorporating green tea is a great idea. It has made me feel so much better. On top of actually being very good for you. And as the post stated above, go for organic. Might cost a few extra cents, but it’s worth it.

[specialmom]

what benefits have you seen?  

[Katie82123]

Green tea also contains L-theanine which helps anxiety.

[Paxiled]

Probably not in green tea, though, as the caffeine would counter balance it.  It might help as a supplement, though it doesn't seem to help very many who use it.  Maybe we haven't found the right dose yet.  It does make green tea more neutral than coffee.

[notmymojo2]

Oh by no means do I think I'm immune to anything now just cause I drink green tea. I just do feel a lot better either way but what you said makes total sense. Substitution makes a lot of sense. And I do eat veggies I love my broccoli and my green beans and carrots. But I'm not a terribly great eater. I don't think I'm an awful one but I'm no vegan by any means. Thank you for you're input and I donthink great tea does has some very good properties..... but you're right it's probably not some drink from the gods

[Paxiled]

You know, being a vegan doesn't guarantee health.  A vegan can be a crummy eater too, and most usually are -- most do it for ideological reasons and so don't eat for health purposes.  Takes all kinds of foods and all people are somewhat different in what best suits them to eat.  

[Paxiled]

It's all in your imagination, plus a bit of a caffeine high.  There are no miracle foods -- you always need to put several good sources of nutrients together to make a healthier body.  Green tea's main benefits are it is very high in particular antioxidants, and so it's good to drink it.  Hopefully you're drinking organic green tea and hopefully you're drinking high quality green tea, because if it's been irradiated or full of chemicals it tends to defeat the purpose. One benefit you're getting is substitution -- substitute something healthy for something unhealthy and you're bound to eventually feel better all over.  I wonder if you eat a lot of high quality vegetables -- green tea is, at bottom, a very antioxidant packed vegetable.  But know that nothing known to human kind can compensate for smoking, so eventually it will get you one way or the other in a very slow, painful deterioration.  Not the way you want to go.  If green tea does this much for you, you're probably eating poorly, and my guess is, if you get up the discipline to stop the smoking and moderate the drinking, you'll really feel great -- underneath that chemically weakened body is probably an incredibly healthy person.  Don't stop the tea -- it's great -- but don't think it's suddenly made you invulnerable.