The Health Potency of Tea

For thousands of years, tea has been considered a traditional tonic for the body and soul in the Oriental. Today, it has become an uplifting and invigorating beverage worldwide.

In modern times, scientific studies have continually confirmed the health potency of tea, in particular, the link between green tea and human cancer. Other ongoing studies have been conducted to establish its connection with cardiovascular diseases, oral health and hygiene, detoxification, and the immune system, among other health issues.

Why is tea a healthful drink?
Tea is rich in antioxidants, and antioxidant nutrients are important to your longevity health.

Free radicals are reactive oxygen molecules that could damage your body and contribute to many diseases, if left unchecked. Your body naturally creates free radicals during the complex process of converting food to energy. Unstable free radicals can steal electrons from other stable molecules, thereby producing a chain reaction of generating more unstable free radicals that can be extremely reactive and damaging to body proteins and fats, in particular the DNA.

Fortunately, antioxidants can effectively arrest free radical reactions, thereby stopping further cell damage. Tea is rich in polyphenols, which are antioxidant nutrients for your body.

In most Asian countries, black tea is the predominant drink. However, green tea has higher levels of polyphenols, compared to black tea. Polyphenols make tea a healthful drink, and for this reason, green tea is gaining popularity worldwide.

For centuries, the Chinese have believed that green tea holds the key to longevity health, duet to its health-preserving and revitalizing ingredients. Western scientists had been skeptical of the health potency of green tea until recently when scientific findings have repeatedly attested to its health benefits.

Polyphenols are phytonutrients, which are naturally occurring compounds in plants to protect them from free radicals, bacteria, parasites, insects and diseases. Apparently, what is good for the plants is also good for the humans.

There are many types of tea, but only one plant. The differences in varieties come from the different processing methods. The three most common tea types are green tea, black tea, and oolong tea.

Green tea is lightly processed, thereby preserving the natural oxidation in the tea leaves. Black tea, as the name suggests, has a darker color and a stronger flavor, is the most popular tea in Asia. However, due to its considerable oxidation processing, it has lost a significant amount of polyphenols in the tea. Oolong tea, also known as the "black dragon" is between green and black tea. Due to its partial auto-oxidation, its taste is stronger than that of green tea but with relatively more polyphenols preserved than in oolong tea.

According to Lu Yu, the famous Chinese tea master of the 7th century, tea could cure common ailments, such as aches and pains, headaches and depression, because it increases blood circulation, stimulates mental responses, detoxifies the body system, brightens the eyes, aids digestion, enhances the immune system, and promotes healthy skin.

Nowadays, with scientific evidence, green tea may protect you from heart diseases because it lowers your blood pressure and cholesterol levels. In addition, the antioxidant properties of green tea may effectively combat cancer-causing agents in your body. Furthermore, the anti-bacterial capabilities of polyphenols are conducive to optimum oral hygiene and health.

Stephen Lau is a researcher and writer. He has published several books, including "No Miracle Cures" on natural healing; he has also created many websites on health, eating disorders, and mental depression. For more information on the author and his works, go to: http://www.stephenlau.name.

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Gaming Laptops - What You Must Know Before Buying

You're a gamer, and you want to take things out on the road. You're going to need a laptop, of course, but what kind to choose? You may think your options as a gamer are limited, but there are still a few things you need to consider when looking for the right gaming laptop for you.

First of all, you need to decide whether this will be a gaming only laptop, or if you'll be wanting to do some work on it as well. Now, most laptops powerful enough to run today's games will have no problem with your basic productivity software, but understanding your needs in this regard is important, since it will determine what kind of options you get, especially with regard to operating systems and installed software.

Secondly, you need to decide how portable you need this laptop to be. As you may have seen, some gaming laptops are simple enormous, not the kind of thing you want to be carrying very far. If you're just looking for a dedicated gaming machine that will be easier to take to LAN parties than your desktop, these can be great, but if you're looking to be taking it to class, or travel with it, you might want to look into something smaller.

This is really why you need to understand your intended usage. The super brick like gaming laptop will perform extremely well when it comes to playing even the most modern games, but you won't get much battery life, and you will hate your life as you carry it around. A smaller laptop may be a joy to travel with, but choke when you try to play any modern games at decent graphics levels. Its an unavoidable compromise, and you will need to decide where your preferences lie.

Of course, if you're not playing the latest and greatest games out there, you can get away with a lot smaller and cheaper laptops. There are many classic games that are lots of fun to play, and will run great on an older or smaller machine. Try to think about what games you'll be playing the most, and base your decision off that.

When it comes to choosing the actual machine, you'll want to pay particular attention to the included graphics card, as this will most likely be the main determiner of the laptops suitability for playing games. Keep in mind that while mobile graphics chipset often have the same names as their desktop counterparts, they are by no means the same chipsets. Be sure to look up some benchmarks on any mobile chipset you're looking into buying so that you be sure you get one that will perform well enough to run what you need.

As you can see, buying a laptop for gaming is basically one giant compromise. However, if you spend a little time clearly delineating what you want from your laptop, you'll find that you should be able to find a machine that will work for you most of the time. Good luck with your search, and happy gaming.

David Wilson is the man behind Used Laptop Central, a site devoted to helping you find affordable used laptop computers. Here, you can find used Alienware laptops, which make great gaming machines, at very low prices. Check it out, and start saving today!

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