Green Tea for Health and Beauty

Adapted from The Book of Green Tea, by Diana Rosen (Storey Books, 1998).

Green tea does so much more for us than provide a few minutes of tea-sipping pleasure! Did you know that green tea has been shown to have many health benefits, including fighting the effects of aging and reducing the risk of some cancers? And green tea can also be used externally to make your skin glow, heal blemishes, cuts, and rashes, soothe strained or tired eyes, fight body odor, and more.

We’ll tell you more about the health benefits of drinking green tea, and give you the formula for a wonderful all-purpose Green Tea Soother Spray (you can use it as a mouthwash, a blemish-healer, and a whole lot more), as well as a great tip for keeping shoes and feet fresh. Learn the secrets of green tea for better health and body care. It‘s all right here:

Green Tea for Health

According to Professor Takuo Okada, “Vitamin E reduces the number of peroxide lipids, which slows down cell degeneration and the aging process. Green tea has been shown to be twenty times more active in this respect than Vitamin E.”

The polyphenols in green tea appear to reduce the risks of certain cancers. These powerful antioxidants help control the activity of free radicals, the unstable compounds that can destroy cells and are implicated n a host of diseases, not just cancer.

Researchers in Great Britain discovered that drinking four or five cups of green tea a day might help reduce both high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and that both black and green teas were shown to inhibit ultraviolet B light-induced skin cancers.

Green tea fights against flus and other viral diseases, strengthens capillaries, and prevents infection.

Green Tea for Beautiful Body Care

Green Tea Soothing Spray

This great soother has many uses (see below). Use unflavored, unscented plain green tea.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup green tea leaves
1 quart spring water

1. Steep the tea leaves in boiling water for 20 minutes.

2. Cool and strain the liquid into a sterilized bottle and refrigerate.

Uses for Soothing Spray:

1. As a cooling, refreshing bath splash.

2. As a perk-up for tired feet.

3. As an anti-fungal foot soak. Soak feet in a quart of soother and do not rinse.

4. Use as a mouthwash.

5. For minor cuts, rashes, or abrasions: saturate a cotton pad with soother and apply to injury for five minutes. Repeat. This can be done up to 4 times a day.

6. To soothe minor sunburn, soak a cloth in the soother and place on sunburned area. Keep on for about 15 minutes.

7. To freshen strained or tired eyes, soak cotton pads in green tea solution, squeeze out excess, and lay gently on eyelids. Let pads rest on lids for about 10 minutes. Repeat if necessary. This reduces puffiness and red eyes.

8. Use as a blemish remedy. Splash on face or dot on blemish with pure cotton. Do not rinse.

Great Idea for Fresher Shoes and Feet

A great use for leftover leaves after brewing:

Allow spent tea leaves to dry, then crush them and sprinkle in shoes and socks to help keep feet healthy. Or fill an old nylon stocking with the dried leaves and place in your shoes.