Green tea? In a field glutted with performance beverages that promise you’ll get ripped, zipped and buff, green tea may seem tepid. Think again. Green tea, hot or cold, may be the single most beneficial beverage a fitness-oriented person can swallow besides water.

Why is green tea of particular value to the fitness set? Despite the benefits of exercise, there is one drawback to working out. Exercise increases oxidation in the body, the deterioration of cells as a result of chemical reactions involving oxygen. Oxidation produces free radicals, which cause damage to DNA, lipids and protein, destroying membranes, altering genes and injuring cells. They contribute to aging and the promotion and severity of numerous health problems, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. Free radicals are generated primarily as a result of breathing oxygen. Thus aerobic exercise can lead to increased cellular damage as a result of increased breathing. This is where mighty green tea plays a role in a personal fitness program.

Green tea contains a family of powerful antioxidant compounds known as polyphenols. There are four primary polyphenols in green tea. While all four appear to possess protective value, Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) occurs in the greatest concentration, and appears to offer the strongest antioxidant benefits. In fact, EGCg is several times more potent an antioxidant than vitamin E.

According to extensive research conducted worldwide, green tea

• Protects against several types of cancer.

• Lowers cholesterol by inhibiting cholesterol absorption and reducing the body’s cholesterol production.

• Reduces blood pressure by the exact same mechanism by which several expensive, prescription blood pressure medicines work.

• Reduces blood platelet stickiness, thus inhibiting atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries.

• Demonstrates anti-bacterial action against the bacteria that cause dental plaque.

• Promotes the growth of beneficial Bifidobacteria in the intestines.

• Protects against certain toxins, including harmful bacteria in foods.

• Protects against adverse effects of radiation.

The easiest way to derive the health benefits of green tea is to drink it. Three eight-ounce cups of green tea daily will give you a significant amount of protective polyphenols, including approximately 375 milligrams of EGCg. That amount is sufficient to provide the benefits described above. Whenever you have a choice, use green tea that is organically grown, without pesticides. This is the purest green tea available.

Drinking green tea is not the only way to derive its benefits, though it is the simplest and least expensive way. You can also find green tea supplements in many natural food stores. Choose products which state on the label that they are standardized to guarantee a potency of at least 40% green tea polyphenols Two 500 milligram capsules daily will give you approximately 375 milligrams of EGCg, the same as three cups of green tea.

I predict that we will see a lot more green tea around. As more people come to realize the need for ever-greater antioxidant protection, green tea stands to become one of the most popular drinks of the new millennium.

Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide.  His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at www.MedicineHunter.com 

Pick of the Week
Despite best intentions, the odds are pretty good that you’ll over-eat on Thanksgiving. Most people indulge more during the holidays given the option. Knowing that you may do so, stock up on this one essential item – Peppermint tea. Simple peppermint tea is naturally rich in menthol, which soothes digestive upset and helps to take away that overly full feeling. Caution, this may not work if you’ve had eight slices of pie! Otherwise, after you’ve pushed back from dessert, make a good strong cup of peppermint tea with two bags, and let it steep for a full five minutes. Remove the bags, and sip. You will feel soothing relief. As for brands? I like Traditional Medicinals Organic Peppermint Tea. Oh, this tip is good for people of all ages. Enjoy and happy holiday to you.

For millions of Americans, every New Year begins with resolutions about losing weight and getting fit.  But with the arrival of 2009 in particular, it seems like we’re being deluged with messages about how to shed pounds and sculpt our physiques.  It seems like every magazine, newspaper, Internet site and morning show is paying homage to those who have achieved control over their appetites, directed their energies into exercise and emerged healthier, sexier or more powerful. 

“The Biggest Loser” is bigger than ever, not to mention weight-loss programming like the “Joy Fit Club,” “Celebrity Fit Club,” “X-Weighted,” “Big Medicine,” “Bulging Brides” and “I Can Make You Thin.”  Vegetarian kids are getting lots of airtime.  Television segments on eating better in ‘09, women now half their size and The 4-Day Diet seem like an everyday event.

I believe that this intense focus on our bodies — which we may also see echoed in increasing sexual contact between teenagers, increasing teen pregnancy rates, increasing rates of infidelity and even increasing birth rates — could be fueled by our growing sense that we can control little else.  With the global economy in chaos, with the continued threat of terrorism and with our nation at war, it is natural that we would want to show somehow that we are the masters of our own destinies — if only in what number pops up when we stand on a scale, or what our muscles look like when we look in the mirror.

Not all of this is a bad thing, of course.  Fitness is a noble goal that more Americans should embrace.  A focus on physical beauty isn’t the end of the world.  Very few of us are without any interest in whether others perceive us as attractive.  And no one can find fault with creating children we can embrace, love and nurture.

The trouble comes when a desire for control becomes hyperbolic, because it is fueled by social or economic anxieties.  That’s the “breeding ground” not just for increased rates of teen sex and pregnancy, but for increased rates of anorexia and bulimia and steroid use in gyms. 

If all we can believe in is our bodies, then manipulating them into the right size and shape, and using them to assert we are capable, worthwhile and powerful can become a national preoccupation bordering on addiction.  In exactly the same way, more and more of us can fall victim to manipulating our brains to deliver pleasure on demand (when little flows from the world around us) through the use of illicit drugs. 

This literal turning in on ourselves isn’t just fueled by an inability to control the national debt or whether GM goes out of business or whether Americans lose their homes or keep their jobs.  I worry it is also fueled by a lack of trust in individuals and institutions that Americans once believed in.  In a year that starts out with headlines on banks gone bust, CEOs in private jets begging Congress for bailouts, Rod Blagojevich, Bernie Madoff and rogue Attorney Marc Dreier (to name a few), it is as if Americans are reverting to what they know they own — their bodies.  There, they still have a shot at having final say over what happens.  If they trust nothing else, they can trust what they literally consume, see, touch and feel.

What’s that old line about what to do when you feel like you’re lost in a dream — or a nightmare?  Pinch yourself.  (Or pinch an inch.) 

Well, there’s no harm in focusing on our bodies as long as we don’t lose sight of everything else.

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatry correspondent for FOX News Channel and a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, “Living the Truth: Transform Your Life through the Power of Insight and Honesty” has launched a new self-help movement. Check out Dr. Ablow’s website at livingthetruth.com or e-mail him at info@keithablow.com.

As we approach the Olympic Games in Beijing, China this week is time to take note if you find yourself “breathing heavy” during or after exercise.  This may a sign of more than just good aerobic activity.  Exercise-associated asthma can be the culprit; in many cases you may not realize you have this form of intermittent asthma.  Symptoms such as coughing or difficulty breathing during or shortly after exercise are commonly seen. 

In the past several Olympic Games up to one-fifth of athletes have a history of EIA (exercise induced asthma).  It certainly does not keep these elite athletes sidelined.  EIA may be triggered by “oversensitivity” to changing conditions including temperature, humidity as well as air quality, during the workout.  

Strategies in dealing with EIA

·         Hydrate with water before, during and after exercise

·         Warm up with a decent stretch and light exercise

·         Give yourself an adequate period for a “cool down” when done

·         Control your allergies and asthma triggers (especially on high pollen count days)

·         Check out the air quality index (pollution and ozone levels) before you exercise outdoors

·         Pre-treat with inhaled medication as advised by your doctor (after your diagnosis is confirmed) to prevent symptoms

Additional info and tips on “exercise induced asthma” can be found at www.aaaai.org/patients/publicedmat/tips/exerciseinducedasthma.stm.

Dr. Clifford W. Bassett is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Long Island College Hospital and on the faculty of NYU School of Medicine.  He is the current vice chair for public education committee of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.  No information in this blog is intended as medical advice to any reader or intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition.

Oklahoma City is overweight! Recently, OKC was listed as one of America’s Fattest Cities by Men’s Fitness Magazine, click here to read the article. But Mayor Mick Cornett doesn’t like this dubious distinction, and has challenged his city to lose a million pounds.