Why Green Tea ? - The Benefits That You Didn’t Know About

Green tea has been used as a medicine for thousands of years, originating in China but widely used throughout Asia this beverage has a multitude of uses from lowering blood pressure to preventing cancer. The reason that green tea has more health benefits attached to it than black tea is (apparently) due to the processing. Black tea is processed in a way that allows for fermentation whereas green tea’s processing avoids the fermentation process. As a result, green tea retains maximum amount of antioxidants and poly-phenols the substances that give green tea its many benefits.

Here’s a list of some of its amazing benefits — benefits that you may not have been aware of. Some of these benefits are still being debated, so please do your own research if you want to use green tea for medicinal purposes.

• Weight Loss. Green tea increases the metabolism. The polyphenol found in green tea works to intensify levels of fat oxidation and the rate at which your body turns food into calories.

• Diabetes. Green tea apparently helps regulate glucose levels slowing the rise of blood sugar after eating. This can prevent high insulin spikes and resulting fat storage.
• Heart Disease. Scientists think, green tea works on the lining of blood vessels, helping keep them stay relaxed and better able to withstand changes in blood pressure. It may also protect against the formation of clots, which are the primary cause of heart attacks.
• Esophageal Cancer. It can reduce the risk of esophageal cancer, but it is also widely thought to kill cancer cells in general without damaging the healthy tissue around them.
• Cholesterol. Green tea reduces bad cholesterol in the blood and improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol.
• Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. It is said to delay the deterioration caused by Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Studies carried out on mice showed that green tea protected brain cells from dying and restored damaged brain cells.
• Tooth Decay. Studies suggests that the chemical antioxidant “catechin” in tea can destroy bacteria and viruses that cause throat infections, dental caries and other dental conditions
• Blood Pressure. Regular consumption of green tea is thought to reduce the risk of high blood pressure.
• Depression. Theanine is an amino acid naturally found in tea leaves. It is this substance that is thought to provide a relaxing and tranquilizing effect and be a great benefit to tea drinkers.
• Anti-viral and Anti-bacterial. Tea catechins are strong antibacterial and antiviral agents which make them effective for treating everything from influenza to cancer. In some studies green tea has been shown to inhibit the spread of many diseases.
• Skincare. Green tea can apparently also help with wrinkles and the signs of aging, This is because of their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Both animal and human studies have demonstrated that green tea applied topically can reduce sun damage.

How Much?

These are some of the many benefits but the reality is one cup of tea a day will not give you all the abundant gains. The jury is out on how many cups are necessary; some say as little as two cups a day while others five cups — and more still say you can drink up to ten cups a day. If you are thinking of going down this route, you may want to consider taking a green tea supplement instead (it would keep you out of the bathroom).

Another thing to point out is that there is caffeine in green tea — so if you are sensitive to caffeine then one cup should be your limit. Green tea also contains tannins (which can decrease the absorption of iron and folic acid), so if you are pregnant or trying to conceive then green tea may not be ideal for you. You can try mixing green tea with other healthy ingredients such as ginger.

For the rest of us with all these abundant benefits…it’s a wonder we drink anything else:)

For more ideas to stay healthy and fit join our personal training/advise sessions to start building your defined wellbeing:

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Online training classes available at :

http://www.balletbodysculpture.com/online-classes.html

Post by Ballet Body Sculpture.

The Best Anti-Aging - Dance - To Keep Yourself Young & Healthy

Jogging and going to the gym often lose their appeal as we age. Few would argue that dancing is much more enjoyable. What’s more, it can benefit the heart, lungs, muscles as well as improving the joints and general well-being even more than cycling or that jogging session in the rain.

“As we age, the benefits of physical activity cannot be underestimated and dancing is a great way to keep healthy, have a great time and enjoy exercise” says Sam Turner of Policy Research Institute on Ageing and Ethnicity Charity.

Dancing and ballet is of course a great group activity, a fun way to meet those new life-friends that you haven’t met yet and a good way to boost self-esteem confidence and memory. “The social, emotional and psychological benefits of dancing are important, especially for those people who are at the risk of becoming lonely or isolated” says Sam Turner.

Let’s all dance ourselves Young and Healthy…

Heart, Health & Weight Control

Dancing can help lower your resting heart rate, your blood pressure and can even lower your cholesterol as well.

Depending on how quick or how energetically you move, dancing can give your heart and lungs a good cardiovascular workout with the added bonus of weight loss thrown in. In actual fact, dancing burns as many calories as swimming or cycling and with ballroom dancing 180 to 480 calories can be lost within an hour’s class - even if you jogged for an hour and burned off 430 calories it would never be half as much fun as if you danced them off.

Bone and Joint Health

As a weight-bearing exercise, dancing helps build, strengthen and maintain healthy bones.

The side-to-side movements of many dance steps strengthen the weight bearing areas of the body including those of the bones in the legs which helps to prevent the onset of osteoporosis in which the limbs become fragile, brittle and can easily break.

A research study by the University Of Maryland School Of Nursing found that dancing helps increase flexibility, co-ordination and the balance of any person, which researchers believe can lead to fewer falls in the mature adult.

Dancing may also help keep joints healthy, supple and mobile and because dancing is a low-impact exercise it doesn’t put strain or too much pressure on those difficult areas. In fact dancing is recommended for those who have had replacement bone and joint operations as a form of therapy, holistic treatment and after-care.

Mental & Emotional Health

When you learn a new dance, remembering the steps could help you keep your memory sharp, alert and active. Research studies have shown that through the use of dancing the likes of dementia prevention are highly expected.

A Study by the Eisenstein College of Medicine in New York followed 500 people aged 60+ who took part in a variety of activities including swimming, cycling, walking and dancing. Out of all the results gained from the study of these activities, researchers discovered that dancing was the only activity associated with a lower risk of mental deterioration. Meanwhile at the other side of the world, Greek scientists have found that dancing is makes a person more positive and with a great outlook on life; and a group of older women who took part in a Thessaloniki based study said that weekly dance classes helped increase their feelings of well-being, self-worth and newly found optimism.

Dancing has been proven to help you relax and take you mind off those troubling worries because of the amount of energy that your body uses during it’s dance sessions you will notice a more physically relaxed person after your class and will be able to sleep easily at night.

So let's get dancing, a bit of ballet & some exercise will keep you young and beautiful for longer. To join our group classes,  private training as well as online ballet video classes, please register via email at our website:

www.balletbodysculpture.com

Post by Ballet Body Sculpture.

Exercising Ballet - A Treatment For Your Body

Most women through out their life spend many hours trying improve their look in some way. Looking after the skin, fashion, cosmetics or beauty salons, it all makes us feel more confident. Unfortunately exercising and looking after the physical part of the body is often pushed back, as it takes a lot more effort and willpower to get started. But the great thing is that physical exercise becomes very easily addictive to your mind & body, giving that wonderful feeling after a good workout. 



Why do you need exercise?
For younger people, exercise is often a bit of a stress buster, as you get older, it’s much more about staying mobile and supple so that you can continue doing all the things you enjoy. Keeping fit and enjoying your daily routines, travelling, gardening and dancing.


Is ballet workout class hard work?
It’s challenging but also great fun. It’s a 60-minute class that focuses on posture, mobility, balance and strength. It starts off with a warm-up, gradually increasing the pace. Some of the moves involve learning and remembering a sequence of dance steps, which also exercises the mind! Passive as well as active stretches maintain flexibility and strength. NLP exercises will secure what's learned, allowing fast and positive progress.


Is it intimidating?
Not at all. It’s very sociable. Exercising in a group is great for motivation, everyone is there for the same reason. It’s always welcoming and non-judgemental, don't be afraid to get it wrong! The social contact is just as important as the exercise.


How often do you need to exercise?
Well, it depends on what you would like to achieve. Just as much as your facial skin, your body needs attention daily. To achieve good results ballet workout class is advisable to exercise at least 3 times a week. 


And lastly...
It’s not about being a skinny or having a model figure. It’s about feeling great. Exercise should make you happy,  bring positive moods, is more about how it makes you feel than how it makes you look. It can make a real difference to things like preventing falls by working on your balance and cheating osteoporosis through better bone density. Regular exercise is known to be beneficial for those with high blood pressure or late onset diabetes. Ballet exercise will help you get to know your body. You learn to recognise alarm bells, such as stress and fatigue. It gives you the tools to help you feel better through relaxation and good breathing techniques, enabling better sleep, avoiding injury and feeling in control of your health. 

For more information about the ways to exercise, our personal training, group as well as online classes:

www.balletbodysculpture.com

Post by Ballet Body Sculpture.