Super Drink to Battle Acne

Camellia Sinensis, or better known as green tea leaf to us, should be the number one priority in everyone's diet. Filled with antioxidant (EGCG) properties, green tea has been proven to be extremely beneficial for one's health. Here is a list of possible health benefits from consuming green tea:

• Improves and prevent cardiovascular disease
• Reduce inflammation
• Increase metabolic activity (great for weight loss)
• Fight against free radical
• Limiting overactive hormonal activities
  

These are just some of the many benefits from drinking green tea! For many years before it was introduced to the West, green tea had been a prominent drink in many Chinese diet to serve as a function of detoxification. In 2003, Dr. Gan Wong from the American Academy of Dermatology ran a test comparing green tea cream with 3% green tea and 4% benzoyl peroxide solution and the result was near identical. In other words, the green tea cream had shown effect in fighting against the acne bacteria. In the Book of Tea written by a Zen Priest centuries ago, it was stated that green tea improves the function of the five organs-especially the heart. A German study conducted has also shown that applying green tea mixed with hot water improved the skin's health that has been damaged by radiation therapy.

We all know that oily skin is an issue with many of us acne sufferers so here is an interesting fact. In many restaurants at Asia, oily finger-food entrees such as deep fried shrimp always comes with a bowl of tea. No, they are not for drinking. Those bowls of tea are actually for you to wash your oily fingers in and they work wonders! So in some way, tea has been shown to contain properties that remove oil.

After drinking two to three cups of green tea everyday for the past few years, my skin texture has improved dramatically. Initially I drank green tea for its fat oxidation benefits but I realized my skin looked a lot better as well after consuming it for a while. There should be no reason that you are not drinking this if you have acne! Not only is it cheap and effective, it is also easy to make and consume. If you can get your hands on the actually green tea leaves then perfect! but I usually use the green tea packets made by Kirkland from Costco.

You can either mix it with hot water or drink it cold (hot is preferable when it comes to tea). Keep in mind that you should avoid any sugary content! Drink them without adding any kind of sweeteners. Have them during breakfast, lunch, and dinner whenever possible and you are good to go!

NOT how you consume green tea!