For the last several years, there has been an abundance of research on the effects of green tea and the many health benefits that it can offer. For centuries, Asians have used green tea for health, both to prevent disease and treat illnesses.

Tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant. There are many different types of tea, but they all come from this plant. The differences occur from the differences in how the tea is processed. Green tea is not fermented during processing, but black tea does go through a fermentation process.

Tea leaves naturally contain anti-oxidants. Fermenting the tea leaves, converts the catechins to other compounds. These new compounds are not as healthy as the unaltered catechins in a tea leaf in its original state. For this reason, green tea has more healthy anti-oxidants and therefore more health benefits than black tea.

Anti-oxidants are critical to our health because they combat free radicals. Each day, as we convert food to energy, we create these free radicals in our body, which damage our cells and our DNA. Over time, these unchecked free radicals cause disease and aging.

For this reason, large doses of anti-oxidants, particularly those like the ones found in green tea, have been found to prevent many types of disease, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and potentially other diseases, as well. Fruits and vegetables are also great anti-oxidant sources.