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Nowadays, many people drink tea, but not all of them know of its health benefits. Those that know not only drink it, but they also incorporate it in the foods they are eating when trying to lose weight. In ancient China, it was believed that tea will detoxify your body and prevent liver disease. In recent years researches have shown that is much to gain from a health’s point of view if you drink tea. Want to know what those benefits are? These are the ten most important:

• It can prevent weight gain. We all need are daily doses of caffeine, but consider this: a soft drink has more calories than a cup of tea, 200 to be exact, so think of this next time you are choosing your morning beverage. If you have tea with milk and sugar, that means you’ll still be adding some calories, but if you drink plain tea, which a lot of people can’t stand, you will be having a drink with 0 calories.
• It prevents ovarian cancer. If you drink a cup of tea a day you will lower the risk of ovarian cancer by 24% and if you drink 2 cups per day you will lower it by 46%, according to a study made in Sweden for 15 years, on 60,000 women.

• It increases you metabolism. Thanks to the polyphenols and caffeine, which can be found in teas, your insulin uptake efficiency will increase and so will your metabolism. It can also help you lose weight because it increases the rate of fat oxidation in your body. A study has shown that you will lose 4,6% of your body weight if you drink tea moderately for 3 months.
• It will make your bones stronger. According to a study, if you drink tea for over 10 years you will have stronger bones, compared to those who didn’t drink any tea.
• It will keep you hydrated. The rule used to be that caffeine drinks didn’t count when it came to hydration, because they were considered to act as a diuretic. Nowadays, studies have proven that if you drink moderate amounts of caffeine beverages, they will keep you hydrated to a certain extent. Not to mention that we all get tired of drinking water every day, so tea should be a welcomed change.
• It can save you from having a stroke. If you drink 3 cups or more of tea daily, you will lower your chances of having a stroke by 21%, according to a research paper presented at the 2009 Stroke Conference.
• It will power-up your immune system. If you drink tea on a regular basis you will have five times the amount of T-cells, or anti-bacterial proteins in your system, compared to non-tea drinkers. Because of this, it is believed that it can also be used to power-up the immune system of HIV-positive patients or others with damaged immune systems.
• It will protect your teeth. If you drink pain tea, without sugar, or anything else, the fluoride and tannings from it will fight plaque, they will also decrease bacterial infections and give you a nicer breath.
• It will stimulate your mind. If you are an elderly person, try drinking minimum 2 cups of tea a day, because it will make your mind sharper by 50%, compared to those people who drink other beverages.
• It will help you relax. The fact that drinking tea helps you relax is not just a myth, it’s the truth. The cortisol levels of those who drink tea drops 20 percent faster than of those who don’t, according to a study done by researchers at University College in London. Cortisol is a stress-induced hormone and if it exists in high quantities for a long period of time it can lead to cardiovascular disease, weight gain and high blood pressure. If you still prefer coffee to tea, know this: the caffeine effect one gets from drinking tea “arrives” after 15 minutes and compared to coffee it offers a gradual increase, rather than a fast jolt.

  Many studies have shown that you can draw the greatest benefit from tea if you drink it plain, without milk, sweeteners, and sugar or lemon, because they can inhibit some of its healthy effects.

  But no matter how you like your tea, make sure that you brew it the right way in order to get the maximum flavor and tannings out of it.

  Before you decide to follow my instructions, you should know that these results are available for green and black tea made from the plant Camellia sinensis. Although herbal teas don’t contain true tea leaves, they also have positive effects on your health. Because both green and black teas have such amazing health benefits, a mixed consumption of the two would be a good idea. If you want to sleep well at night, you might want to drink green tea in the afternoon.

  The following guest blog report is provided by Karen H. Cole. Karen is one of the top blog writers on physical fitness and health market. To find out more about health tips for women, go to health and nutrition web-blog.