Green tea is known around the world for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. And adding to that,… a recent study shows drinking two cups of green tea a day can keep your lungs healthy.
Cho Sung-min reports. Local researchers from Kyung Hee University say drinking green tea can reduce your chances of getting several serious lung diseases by nearly 40 per cent.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, includes conditions such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis and refractory asthma.
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These diseases, mostly caused by smoking, have several things in common — they cause chest tightening, chronic coughing, and excessive amounts of mucus. The researchers found a clear correlation between green tea consumption and these lung conditions after conducting a study on some 13-thousand subjects age 40 and older from 2008 to 2015.
Among those who drank more than two cups of green tea per day, COPD was found in only five per cent of them. Among those who didn’t drink green tea at all, the figure was over 14 per cent. After applying a range of variables — from smoking history and alcohol consumption to the subjects’ levels of physical activity — the team concluded that drinking at least two cups of green tea per day reduces the chances of contracting COPD by 38 per cent.
Though the mechanism isn’t completely understood yet, the team says that a green tea extract called catechin helps protect the lungs with its anti-inflammatory effects. The team are planning further research on the extract to find out exactly how it works.
Read More: 7 Health Benefits of Green Tea & How to Drink it | Doctor Mike
