Drinking Green Tea: More Manly Than You Thought

Green tea has been around for a while. More than 4,000 years to be exact. The ancient Chinese green tea bible was written even before, well, the Bible: Lu Yu’s “Tea Classic” or “Cha Jing”” was created between 600 and 900 AD and detailed all things green tea: From how to make it to where to drink it.

The ancient Chinese scholars lauded the brew for its health benefits back then already. Nowadays, we’re rediscovering men’s health and find that there are quite a few lessons we can learn from the past. Men don’t need to sip green tea from a dainty ceramic cup, but chugging a few glasses of the stuff can drastically improve a man’s health in the long run.

While a diet of fried foods and beer sounds great on paper, in practice, a man would be pushing up daisies by the time he’s 60. By adopting a healthy lifestyle including drinking green tea, a person can find himself looking and feeling more manly.

Why is Green Tea Healthy?

What makes green tea any healthier than drinking a pint of dark ale? Catechins. Sure, you may have read that catechins are also present in wine, but the highest concentrations are found in green tea. Catechin polyphenols are a type of flavonoids that really don’t do much for helping the green tea plant grow, but helps to keep it healthy.

There has been a significant study of catechins since the 1990s when green tea became associated with long life thanks to its traditional use in many ancient cultures. Studies continue to this day to try to not only prove the many claims made about the tea but also to uncover the many new and different ways it helps the body.

Prostate Cancer Prevention

There are few words that make a man’s danglies cry out in fear than prostate cancer. It’s one of the leading causes of death in men and can leave a man impotent in the aftermath. While early detection is key, avoiding it entirely is always a better plan.

While the mechanism behind how green tea actually prevents and fights prostate cancer is still being identified, according to the Mayo Clinic, studies have shown that men who drink more than five cups every day have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer. Some scientists believe it slows the growth of cancer cells and makes them die off. Anything that can keep a man’s member at full attention into old age is certainly worth the old college try.

Lower Risk of Heart Disease

Let’s face it, there’s a reason men have grabbers when they get older. They like to eat lots of red meat and slather bacon and ranch dressing on everything. That’s going to clog arteries and soon they’re doing their best Fred Sanford impression before getting a triple bypass or shuffling off this mortal coil. For those men not willing to drop bacon fat as a major food group, the National Institute of Health says drinking green tea might be able to help them out.

The antioxidants in the tea help improve the flexibility of blood vessels, reducing the hardening of the arteries, reduce cholesterol, and thus chances of a stroke by as much as 50 percent. Heart disease is another major killer of men, so let the grim reaper take a vacation and drink some tea.

Green Tea and a Sexier You

Seducing a classy woman at the bar with your winning smile and charm is a tempting idea for many single men, but if you look like Yoda before the CGI, then good luck. Luckily, green tea is also known to make men more attractive. No, it’s not love potion number 9, but it can help clear up that annoying acne. According to Cupid’s Library, women aren’t as interested in those glistening giant pectorals or bulging biceps as they are in healthy-looking skin.

If a man’s skin is glowing and well taken care of, then that says something about that man. Mother Nature hardwired it into our brains to seek after healthy mates.

Many guys have that occasional acne outbreak and nothing kills the look of your skin then acne scabs or whiteheads. According to AcneEinstein, green tea has been shown to treat the three main causes of acne: blocked pores, inflammation of hair follicles, and rapid multiplication of bacteria.

A South Korean study showed that a major antioxidant in green tea decreased inflammation in test tubes and decreased the growth of bacteria. Sure, the antioxidant was part of a cream and we’re not suggesting men slather their faces with green tea, but ingesting the antioxidant might provide similar, if not muted, capabilities of a cream.

The tea and green tea supplements have also been shown to help decrease body mass. It’s the Swiss Army knife of health, providing not only major cancer and heart disease-fighting benefits, but also makes you look great and thinner.

Green Tea Preparation

So, we’ve basically discovered that drinking about five glasses of green tea each day will help men live longer and look better. That sounds like a win-win situation. So, the question remains of how do you prepare green tea to maximize its healing properties.

According to Psychology Today, the first lesson is to not use the tea bags that are found in stores. The fresher the better, so it’s always best to homebrew the tea. The temperature of the water should be around 70-80 degrees Celsius to help decrease the natural bitterness of the tea. In fact, tea that has been seeped at room temperature for two hours was shown to have increased health benefits than that brewed in hot water.

Ideally, a person will drink the tea soon after brewing and before the antioxidants break down, but by adding lemon to the tea, it can be drunk several hours later with little decrease in health benefits.

The effects of green tea on men’s health are obvious, so put down that can of soda or even that third glass of beer (we won’t begrudge the other two) and grab a tall glass of green tea.  Five glasses of the liquid drank throughout the day will help keep that manly body in proper working order and might even give a man some of his old swaggers back.

When it comes to manliness, real men drink green tea.