How Green Tea Helps with Exercise
Wednesday, 21 May 2008 by Brenda
Could it be true? Emerging evidence seems to suggest that consumption of green tea may provide some benefit related to exercise. Specifically, antioxidants found in the drink may help prevent harmful effects of resistance exercise “by reducing the detrimental effects of oxidative stress,” says Stephen Daniells of FoodNavigator-USA.com, a daily online news service focused on food and beverages.
In a recent article, Daniells notes that “researchers from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, and the Center of Physical Education, Physiotherapy and Sports of Santa Catarina State University studied the effects of daily green tea consumption for seven days in athletes undertaking resistance training.” This type of exercise, which includes weight-lifting, “can increase the production of free radicals beyond the tissues’ antioxidant defense capacity … causing oxidative stress.”
Results from the study suggested that consumption of the tea offered significant protection against this oxidative damage, providing benefits both before and after exercise.
If you are physically active, make sure you receive plenty of antioxidants in your diet. And consider green tea in addition to that sports drink!
No. 1 — March 24th, 2009 at 6:01 am
[...] of free radicals — sometimes beyond the body’s antioxidant defense capacity — causing oxidative stress. Results from the study suggest that tea offered significant protection against this oxidative [...]