Tea is to mornings\u00a0as Kanye is to Kanye; important.<\/p>\n
And who knew that we’d been on such a health kick our ENTIRE LIVES by dousing ourselves in the stuff\u00a0up to\u00a0three or four times a day? Look at us go, practically on Atkins.<\/p>\n
Not a tea drinker? You will be after this…<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0Tea contains antioxidants<\/h3>\n
Just like the WD40 you spray onto your bike lock every couple of weeks, tea protects your body from the ravages of age and the effects of general wear and tear.<\/p>\n
One of the more powerful compounds in green tea is the antioxidant\u00a0e<\/em>pigallocatechin gallate<\/em>\u00a0(try saying that thrice), which has lent a hand\u00a0to the treatment of all sorts of\u00a0diseases.\u00a0<\/p>\n Drinking tea may help keep your arteries smooth and clog-free, similar to the way\u00a0a drain keeps your bathroom pipes clear (but a bit less grim to think about).<\/p>\n A study supporting this<\/a>\u00a0followed more than 37,000 people in the Netherlands for 13 years and found that people who drink plenty of cuppas\u00a0are less likely to die of heart disease than people who aren’t so inclined.<\/p>\n The study went on to say\u00a0that\u00a0participants who drank three to six cups of tea per day were 45% less likely to die from heart disease than those who drank less than one cup \u2013\u00a0AND\u00a0drinking more than six cups of tea per day was associated with a 36% lower risk of developing heart disease than drinking less than one cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n Black\u00a0Tea doesn’t contain\u00a0any calories, not even one \u2013 well, unless you add sweetener or milk. Then you’re on your own.<\/p>\n But think about it in the long run: consuming\u00a0even 250 fewer calories per day can result in losing one pound of fat per week. If you compare a cup of black or green tea to the\u00a0cup of milky tea with heaps of sugar\u00a0you’ve previously been chugging all day, it’s a no-brainer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Having a slow metabolic rate makes losing weight hard, and maintaining weight a nightmare.<\/p>\n Green tea has been shown to actually increase metabolic rate so that you can burn 70 to 80 additional calories by drinking just five cups of green tea per day. Yes, you heard us right \u2013 you can actually shed excess weight by consuming more. What a time to be alive!\u00a0<\/p>\n Caffeinated beverages, including tea, were originally\u00a0on the list of beverages that did nothing for our daily liquid\u00a0needs.<\/p>\n Since caffeine is a diuretic (diuretic drinks make us go to the loo more than regular ones), the thought was that caffeinated beverages couldn’t contribute to our overall fluid\u00a0requirement. However, recent research has shown that the caffeine really doesn’t matter \u2013\u00a0tea and other caffeinated beverages definitely contribute to our fluid needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/cloud.lovinsaudi.com\/images\/uploads\/2018\/04\/_blogWide\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-10-at-11.15.11-PM.png?mtime=20180410211508\")
<\/figure>\n2. Tea may\u00a0help\u00a0to reduce your risk of heart attacks and strokes<\/h3>\n
![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/cloud.lovinsaudi.com\/images\/uploads\/2018\/04\/_blogWide\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-10-at-11.16.12-PM.png?mtime=20180410211608\")
<\/figure>\n3. Black\u00a0tea is calorie-free<\/h3>\n
![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/cloud.lovinsaudi.com\/images\/uploads\/2018\/04\/_blogWide\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-10-at-11.17.14-PM.png?mtime=20180410211709\")
<\/figure>\n4. Tea may help kickstart\u00a0your metabolism<\/h3>\n
![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/cloud.lovinsaudi.com\/images\/uploads\/2018\/04\/_blogWide\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-10-at-11.18.10-PM.png?mtime=20180410211800\")
<\/figure>\n5. Tea helps to keep you hydrated\u00a0<\/h3>\n
![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/cloud.lovinsaudi.com\/images\/uploads\/2018\/04\/_blogWide\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-10-at-11.20.26-PM.png?mtime=20180410212019\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/cloud.lovinsaudi.com\/images\/uploads\/2018\/04\/_blogWide\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-10-at-11.21.31-PM.png?mtime=20180410212208\")
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