Wondering how to keep your cool in this unrelenting heat? When the temperatures creep up to 80+ degrees, sipping on a cup of iced green tea is a healthy, body cooling pick-me-up. Green tea is the ultimate summer drink: a cup counts toward your daily hydration dose, acts as a natural sunscreen and it's antioxidants help keep wrinkles at bay as well.
By the way, no one says you have to drink pure green tea. If you think its taste leaves a lot to be desired, you can cheat a little and add a few berries, some mint leaves, or even mix it with fruity black teas (but skip the sugar – that makes you age faster!). You'll still get all its anti-aging benefits minus that bitter taste in your mouth.
Here's why green tea is the best anti-aging drink on the planet:
- Green Tea Prevents Wrinkles
Green tea is loaded with polyphenols like catechin and flavonoids, powerful antioxidants that keep your skin looking young and your body healthy and strong. Antioxidants are part of your body's natural police force: they patrol the body looking for free radicals, the nasty molecules that destroy good protein, like collagen and elastin, and cellular DNA, causing mutations that can lead to wrinkles, dark spots and all sort of diseases, including cancer. When an antioxidant spots one of these criminals, it fights it off and destroys it, keeping your skin safe from harm.
One of the most powerful antioxidants in green tea is Epigallocatechin Gallate, or EGCG for short. EGCG is considered to be a whopping 200 times more effective than Vitamin E at fighting those nasty free radicals. That's just one antioxidant! Green tea has plenty more to give EGCG a helping hand in preventing wrinkles from showing up on your face too soon.
- Green Tea Is Soothing
Polyphenols, like EGCG, are multitaskers. They don't just fight free radicals. They also soothe irritations. Their anti-inflammatory properties are just what your skin needs to quench the flames of chronic irritation that are burning in its deepest layers. If not tamed, inflammation triggers a cascade of free radicals that, overtime, lead to premature wrinkles, arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. No wonder drinking a cup of green tea a day has been linked to protection against different types of cancer, memory boost and lower risk of Alzeheimer's!
- Green Tea Reduces Sun Damage
Polyphenols have one more weapon in their arsenal: photoprotection. You know it: the sun is your friend, until you spend a little too long under its warm rays. Then, it turns nasty. Your skin becomes red. Wrinkles and dark spots start to appear. It's not a pretty picture. That's when polyphenols come to the rescue. With their anti-inflammatory properties, they reduce the redness and inflammation you get after lingering too long in the sun. Plus, they reinforce your antioxidant defences, so your skin is better able to tackle and get rid of free radicals. Their last trick? When UV rays break down your collagen, polyphenols boost it back up.
I think we can all agree that iced green tea is the perfect summer drink. But don't limit yourself to enjoying this just in the summer. Hot and steamy, it's just as good in wintertime.