Green Tea has now become trend, every second person who is reading this news has once tried drinking green tea. Drinking green tea has many benefits. Green tea helps in weight loss, skin and hair, and in removing toxins from the body. Many of us drink green tea with great pleasure. Some drink it in the morning, afternoon, evening or night as per their convenience, while others drink green tea at different times and for various reasons to relieve boredom at home and office. But many of us do not know exactly what is the right time to drink green tea. According to Joy Dubost, a dietitian at Lipton Teas & Infusions, drinking green tea at the right time maximizes its nutritional benefits.
Do you know the right time to drink green tea?
1. If you drink a cup of green tea on an empty stomach after waking up in the morning, it can help detoxify the body and increase the amount of antioxidants in the body. Because there is no food or other nutrients in the stomach at that time, the plant components in green tea are easily absorbed by the body.
2. If you drink green tea right after a meal, the tannins in it (which give green tea a mild bitter taste) can interfere with the absorption of important nutrients like iron in the body. This is especially important if you are a vegetarian and your diet is low in iron. For this, dieticians advise that if you are going to drink green tea after a meal, drink it at least two hours apart or drink it at least two hours before a meal.
3. Some of us drink green tea before going to bed at night because it relaxes the body. But green tea contains caffeine (usually 30 mg in a cup), which can interfere with your night's sleep. For this reason, it is better to avoid drinking green tea before going to bed at night or you can definitely drink herbal tea instead.
To maximize the health benefits of green tea, Dietician Joy Dubost recommends steeping tea bags or leaves in boiling water for 4-5 minutes, avoiding over-steeping to prevent bitterness. Consuming vitamin C-rich fruits like lemon alongside green tea can enhance antioxidant absorption. Milk should be avoided, as it can diminish the tea's nutritional value. Individual factors such as smoking, weight, and genetics can also influence the effectiveness of green tea's antioxidants. Therefore, the impact of green tea varies depending on personal health, habits, and genetic predispositions.
What is the right way to prepare green tea?
Dietician Joy Dubost says that if you prepare green tea properly, its benefits also increase. Boil green tea bags or green tea leaves in boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes. Do not keep it for too long or it will taste very bitter. If you want, you can eat lemon or any fruit containing vitamin C with green tea, this helps in absorbing antioxidants. Do not mix milk with green tea at all. Mixing milk with green tea can reduce its nutrients.
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Your body condition also has a significant impact on the effectiveness of green tea. Some studies have found that people who smoke, are overweight, or have certain genetic factors do not benefit as much from the antioxidants in green tea as others. This means that how much green tea will affect the body depends on each person's physical condition, habits, and genetics.