Green tea VS Soda

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tastywhalebacon
tastywhalebacon Posts: 43
in Food and Nutrition
I know green tea is supposed to be better for you, but what makes it better?
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  • tastywhalebacon
    tastywhalebacon Posts: 43
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    i'm also currently in the process of switching from soda to green tea and mainly water.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
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    Soda is NOT good for you. It's chemicals and unhealthy ones at that.

    Green tea has minerals and antioxidants and is good for you.
  • amanda6393
    amanda6393 Posts: 176 Member
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    I buy peppermint flavoured green tea and sweeten it with a bit of stevia. Very nice :)
  • tastywhalebacon
    tastywhalebacon Posts: 43
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    Soda is NOT good for you. It's chemicals and unhealthy ones at that.

    Green tea has minerals and antioxidants and is good for you.



    that's what i figured. everyone i know says to switch to green tea.
  • kaervaak
    kaervaak Posts: 274 Member
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    Greentea by itself has basically 0 calories, is full of antioxidants, has caffeine which has a thermogenic (fat burning) effect and has chemicals that boost the thermogenic effects of caffeine making it even better.

    Soda has tons of high fructose corn syrup (sugar), preservatives, dyes, other nasty chemicals and caffeine.

    Try brewing a big batch of green tea with fresh lemon slices added to the hot water then chilling it. There's some indication that if you don't drink the tea hot it loses some portion of its properties (the body can only absorb some of the good stuff in green tea when it's hot for some reason) but it's delicious, refreshing and super good for you.
  • dgwear
    dgwear Posts: 11 Member
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    the only reason soda is bad is because it is so dense with unsatisfying calories, green tea has some micronutrient benefits but the main thing is its calories less. the thermogenic effect of green tea is nearly irrelevant before someone bring that up.
  • tastywhalebacon
    tastywhalebacon Posts: 43
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    i bought a thing of green tea citrus. let's see how it goes.
  • carld256
    carld256 Posts: 855 Member
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    I drink diet green tea citrus. I'm a diabetic, so sweetened tea is off the list.
  • albino_rainbow87
    albino_rainbow87 Posts: 2
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    It's awesome that you're making a healthy alternative jump! Good luck! :) I quit drinking soda about a year ago, it's so difficult... But drinking green tea really does help once it becomes routine! (I usually have a box with caffeine and a box of decaf green tea so I can switch them out through the day as needed). Since it's summer I've been drinking some of mine cold... It was on this forum that I found out I was losing some benefits that way.. Hmmm, I guess I'll have to look into that. Good luck!
  • islandmonkey
    islandmonkey Posts: 546 Member
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    Are you switching to brewed hot green tea, or to a bottled green tea beverage?

    It sounds like probably the bottled - I'd take a look at the label before deciding whether to drink it. Just because it's "green tea" doesn't mean there haven't added a ton of sugar and other crap.

    You're smart to ditch the soda.

    Soda is NOT good for you. It's chemicals and unhealthy ones at that.

    Green tea has minerals and antioxidants and is good for you.



    that's what i figured. everyone i know says to switch to green tea.
  • GnochhiGnomes
    GnochhiGnomes Posts: 348 Member
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    Diet soda isn't too bad. Though green tea or black coffee is better.
  • TravisBurns
    TravisBurns Posts: 353 Member
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    Make sure you aren't buying the bottled green tea, or at least the Nestea or Lipton brands. They are loaded with sugar, I believe the same as soda. Always buy green tea by the bags. I personally buy the brand Bigelow. I drink it straight up as well. That's how I got over all my empty calorie drinking was by straight cutting it out. Diet isn't much better either. But if you MUST have pop, make sure it is diet. Here is a fact I use when trying to deter my friends from soda. There is more sugar in one single can of pop than you are supposed to have in a single day.
  • raeleek
    raeleek Posts: 414 Member
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    As someone said earlier you should brew your own green tea. Bottled green tea has been brewed who knows when and the beneficial catechins start to break down and so the health benefits are null.

    I also agree that the thermogenic effect is fairly small so that in itself won't help you drop a lot of weight.

    Green tea has so many benefits though aside from any concerning weight loss.

    Studies have shown that green tea helps ward off cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, overall body inflammation, and dementia. It's relaxes the arterial walls so the heart doesn't have to work as hard and it makes your circulatory system more flexible. This keeps your arteries from hardening. They thought for a long time this was isolated to countries that had high fish diets such as many asian cultures but they've found over and over again that green tea is amazing regardless of diet. Of course you want to have a healthy diet and not just rely on the tea. I've read varying opinions on the amount to drink daily to get the benefits. I've heard from 6 cups to 10 cups. I've also read that you want to keep the tea caffeinated if you can because the process that removes the natural caffeine can strip out the teas natural health properties.

    All the best!

    A few sources.

    http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/benefit_of_drinking_green_tea
    http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/green-tea-000255.htm/
    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110602143214.htm
  • souzooka
    souzooka Posts: 7
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    i adoreeeeeeeeeee green tea make me relaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • kaervaak
    kaervaak Posts: 274 Member
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    The thermogenic effect of green tea is nearly irrelevant before someone bring that up.

    Not so:
    http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v24/n2/full/0801101a.html

    http://www.ajcn.org/content/70/6/1040.short

    Green tea on its own appears to increase TDEE by about 4% (~100 Kcal), it also appears to increase the efficacy of ephedrine when taken in place of normal caffeine in an EC stack by up to 2.5 times.
  • AZDizzy
    AZDizzy Posts: 434 Member
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    I've started drinking A LOT of green tea. I brew it and then ice it.

    I read on the interwebs that 5 cups of green tea burns 80 calories! LOL!
  • tiffanymarie1989
    tiffanymarie1989 Posts: 8
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    make sure you're looking at the sugar intake on the green tea though. some of them have so much sugar in it you might as well be drinking a soda. sobe green tea is one for sure that i can think of off the top of my head.

    here is my proof:
    http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slide/worst-bottled-tea-0?slideshow=184612
  • tastywhalebacon
    tastywhalebacon Posts: 43
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    i'm starting out with the bottles stuff and then going to work myself into brewing it.



    Are you switching to brewed hot green tea, or to a bottled green tea beverage?

    It sounds like probably the bottled - I'd take a look at the label before deciding whether to drink it. Just because it's "green tea" doesn't mean there haven't added a ton of sugar and other crap.

    You're smart to ditch the soda.

    Soda is NOT good for you. It's chemicals and unhealthy ones at that.

    Green tea has minerals and antioxidants and is good for you.



    that's what i figured. everyone i know says to switch to green tea.
  • tastywhalebacon
    tastywhalebacon Posts: 43
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    i just had my last drink of diet coke with my dinner. no more soda!



    Make sure you aren't buying the bottled green tea, or at least the Nestea or Lipton brands. They are loaded with sugar, I believe the same as soda. Always buy green tea by the bags. I personally buy the brand Bigelow. I drink it straight up as well. That's how I got over all my empty calorie drinking was by straight cutting it out. Diet isn't much better either. But if you MUST have pop, make sure it is diet. Here is a fact I use when trying to deter my friends from soda. There is more sugar in one single can of pop than you are supposed to have in a single day.
  • HorseWithNoName27
    HorseWithNoName27 Posts: 188 Member
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    Here's what I do. Get a box of plain green teabags and brew up a bunch of it (I use coffee mugs and the microwave). Let it cool and put it in a pitcher. Drink it plain. It is naturally sweet on its own, no calories, tons of antioxidants and is very good for you.

    Fun fact--green tea, black tea (iced tea or "plain" tea), and white tea are all the same plant, just picked at different stages of its life. All are naturally sweet with zero calories and have different antioxidant effects. I drink them all cold. Drink up! :drinker:

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