Easy Articles - Health

Recipe for Green Tea Cake

2009-09-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

Over the years, people have come up with some very interesting cake recipes. For instance, there is chocolate and zucchini cake, Coca Cola cake, and Kaluha cake, all delicious but not necessarily healthy. As you will discover in this article, you have another option in the form of a recipe for green tea cake. With this, you have both flavor and a healthy snack.

Although we have provided you with our favorite recipe for green tea cake, keep in mind that you will find many variations. In addition, you might take the recipe we have and modify it using your own creativity. Regardless, a green tea cake makes a wonderful dessert when entertaining guests or snack for the kids after school. Green tea cakes are light, moist, and offer just the right amount of sweet.

You will even find that with this recipe for green cake tea fills the room with a wonderful, green tea fragrance. This type of cake can be made as a sheet cake, layer cake, or for different types of molds. As far as icing, you could choose whatever you like but we do suggest you consider a cream cheese based icing, which adds just the right touch of flavor to complement the cake’s ingredients. If you want to give this recipe for green tea cake a slight green color, you can add an additional amount of Matcha, which is green tea powder.

RECIPE FOR GREEN TEA CAKE

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 to 5 teaspoons powdered green tea

1 ¼ cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 eggs

RECIPE FOR ICING

1 ¼ cups powdered sugar

2 ½ teaspoons powdered green tea

2 tablespoons butter or margerine, soft

3 ounces cream cheese, soft

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ teaspoons milk

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13-inch or two, 9-inch cake pans. In a bowl, sift the all-purpose flour with cake flour, baking soda, salt, and green tea powder, mix well and set aside. In another bowl, beat the white sugar, oil, and eggs until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the flour mixture, alternating with the yogurt. Mix well and pour the batter into the prepared baking pans. Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a cake rack for 30 minutes before icing.

For the icing, sift the powdered sugar with the green tea powder in a bowl. In a second bowl, mix the sugar/tea mixture with butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and milk. Beat until smooth with an electric mixer. Spread the icing on the cooled cakes, distributing evenly. To enhance the appearance for this recipe of green tea cake, you could sprinkle a small amount of the green tea powder on top.

Julie Health writes about health benefits of green tea and has provided you with more recipes using green tea.

http:www.benefitsofgreentea.info

Studies on Green Tea and Weight Loss

2009-09-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

For many years now, several benefits are attributed to drinking green tea. Today, researchers have come up with newer proofs to solidify the belief that green tea can be used as a treatment for obesity and for weight loss.

It is held that more than half of the American population have weight problems or are obese. Conditions like these are almost always linked to certain complications like heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, sleep apnea, gall bladder disease, and hypertension. Weight loss can aid in assuaging the symptoms of some of these conditions.

Scientists have tirelessly investigated the weight loss benefits of green tea. They have found that green tea can actually enhance the total amount of energy spent by the body. From their findings, they were able to deduce that green tea has great potential for a weight loss benefit.

Other researches were able to confirm the weight loss benefit of green tea. A recent study at the University of Geneva had the conclusion that, “Green tea has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation beyond that explained by its caffeine content per se.” Where before it was generally believed that the caffeine content in green tea is the reason for its weight loss benefit, this recent study deviated from that theory. Green tea has other substances in them that are helpful in weight loss.

The same team who conducted the study on green tea’s caffeine content and weight loss banded together in Switzerland to perform another experiment. They were still able to come up with the same results – that green tea has several thermogenic attributes that make it perfect to use in any weight loss program.

Green tea reduces body fat accretion caused by high-fat diet in rats through beta-adrenoceptor activation of thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue. Conducted by chief scientist J.J. Choo of the Department of Food and Nutrition, Kunsan National University, this study aimed to find out if green tea can suppress body fat and to find out whether this suppression is connected with thermogenesis spurred by the body’s beta-adrenoceptor being activated.

To investigate the weight loss benefit of green tea on rats, the scientists placed their subjects on a high-fat diet and provided them with green tea extract. It was discovered that even though the rats were on a high-fat diet, the green tea extract counterbalanced fat gain without affecting the amount of energy they took in. Green tea was said to have shown some weight loss benefits in the fact that it can prevent fat from being stored, can increase protein levels, and promote thermogenesis by triggering beta-adrenoceptor to action.

Recent findings of green tea extract AR25 (Exolise) and its activity for the treatment of obesity. This study is a collaborative work between Doctors P. Chantre and D. Lairon of the Laboratoires Arkopharma in Carros, France. Published in the 2002 issue of Phytomedicine, this study aimed to find out if green tea extract has weight loss benefits and can be a potential cure for obesity.

In their study, they used an 80% ethanolic concentrate in green tea extract with standardized 25% catechins. They tested the green tea extract and were able to find that it could directly inhibit gastric and pancreatic lipases. These enzymes are the primary cause of fat storage and by delaying their actions; green tea extract therefore exhibits a weight loss benefit that can help solve obesity problems.

It was also discovered in this study that green tea can stimulate thermogenesis. Given to moderately obese patients, the green tea extract was said to have caused a decrease in weight by 4.6% and a reduction of waist circumference by 4.48% after only three months. The findings of the study clearly implicate the weight loss benefits of green tea.

Julie Health writes about weight loss and green tea at her website Benefits of Green Tea.

http:www.benefitsofgreentea.info

Health Benefits of the Chinese Green Tea Diet

2009-09-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

Dating back more than 4,000 years, Chinese green tea diet has been long revered as a tasty drink that can ward off diseases and improve one's well-being. There are only a few herbs that can surpass the impressive history of Chinese green tea diet.

Since its first recorded use during the time of Emperor Shen Nung, the link between Chinese green tea diet and good health has never been severed. Today, further studies are made to test the benefits of the remarkable health elixir that is Chinese green tea diet.

Traditional Health Benefits of the Chinese Green Tea Diet

According to tradition, this Chinese diet could cure anything from headaches, body aches, and pains to constipation and depression. Over the centuries, more health claims are made on account of the Chinese green tea diet.

Chinese green tea detoxifies the body. The presence of polyphenols, a naturally occurring antioxidant in this particular tea, is said to combat harmful free radicals and help keep the body free from diseases. In this regard, Chinese green tea helps maintain the overall well-being of the body. It fights against the anti-aging process because the antioxidants in Chinese green tea diet can boost immunity, preserve young-looking skin, and brighten the eyes.

Additional health benefits of Chinese green tea is it increases the blood flow throughout the body. Because it contains a little caffeine, ingesting this drink stimulates the heart and allows the blood to flow more freely through the blood vessels. For the same reason that tea stimulates blood flow, it also stimulates mental clarity.

For many years, men of science remained skeptical about the health claims made by Chinese green tea diet enthusiasts because the health benefits are truly vast in number. Their doubt was changed to a more positive reception when subsequent researchers proved the disease-preventing attributes of the Chinese green tea diet and confirmed most of the health claims.

The Heart

Study after study has shown that drinking Chinese green tea and eating polyphenol-rich foods reduces the risk of any heart complications. It helps strengthen the blood vessels that provide oxygen and valuable nutrients to the heart and brain. It has also been researched that men who use the Chinese green tea diet have a 75 percent less possibility of having a stroke than those who don't use the diet.

The Chinese green tea diet helps lower total cholesterol levels and improve the ratio between LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol. Study shows that men who drink nine or more cups of Chinese green tea diet daily have lower cholesterol levels than those who drink fewer than two cups. While nine cups may seem a lot, break it up through out the day and you'll realize it's not that difficult to drink that many cups. You could have one during and after each meal and during your breaks.

You really need to learn more. The Silent Killer Exposed uncovers and gives you the information you need to maintain a healthy blood system. Visit it here now.

Longevity

The role of Chinese green tea diet in promoting longevity has been investigated upon by many researchers. They found the premise of their study on observing Japanese women who are greater-than-average Chinese green tea diet drinkers; have lower mortality rates compared to others. This led the researchers to believe that the Chinese green tea diet has "a protective factor against premature death."

The polyphenols found in the diet may be held accountable. With its high amount of polyphenols, it seems to have a stimulating effect on the immune system. A stronger immune system as a result of drinking Chinese green tea helps reduce risks of obtaining many illnesses.

If these health benefits of doing the Chinese green tea diet don't motivate you to start drinking this miracle in a cup, chances are you'll never become motivated to loose weight. So start today and drink up. The health benefits go well beyond weight loss!

Julie Health writes about the many health benefits of chinese green tea at http://www.benefitsofgreentea.info If you're interested, you can also learn more about a diet by drinking green tea. Jokingly, her last name is said to be the reason for her involvement in health.
Author Julie Health

http:www.benefitsofgreentea.info

Health

2009-09-29T12:55:00.001-07:00

Health Benefits of the Chinese Green Tea Diet

Studies on Green Tea and Weight Loss

Recipe for Green Tea Cake