Two common beverages that many drink frequently may actually prolong your life. These beverages, green tea and wine fermented from red grapes are both rich and antioxidants as well as highly effective in lowering blood cholesterol levels.
Green tea, containing an antioxidant called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG for short) has been found highly beneficial in preventing and treating a number of cancers as well as reducing blood cholesterol levels. Persons who drink at least 4 to five cups of green per day, after allowing the tea to ‘steep’ for at lest 3 minutes, have obtained health benefits far exceeding those who drink ordinary and ‘black’ teas. And caffeine levels are much lower as well. Drinking green teas is relatively new to Western cultures; but Asian people, such as the Chinese, have known of the benefits of drinking green tea for hundreds of years. This may explain why many Asian cultures have higher longevity rates than Western counterparts, as well as much rates of cancer and cardio-vascular disease.
Drinking Red Wine is also very effective in lowering blood cholesterol and this benefit appears to come from the poly phenol Antioxidants and Flavonoids found in the skin of the grapes. In many southern European counties, including France, Spain, and Italy, where large amounts of red are consumed regularly, blood cholesterol levels in many people are much lower even though high quantities of meat and dairy foods are consumed. These Antioxidants and Flavonoids are also found to prevent premature aging and actually slow down tissue degeneration, one of the prime causes of premature aging. Drinking at least 5 ounces of red wine daily, or a good quality grape juice made from red grapes, will prevent formation of fatty plaque deposits in the blood vessels, one of the primary causes of heart attacks.
Naturally, watching what you eat along with drinking these healthful beverages is also very important. But in countries like France, where people love to eat such high cholesterol foods as goose liver, cheese, and various kinds or red meat (often consumed raw) drinking two or more glasses of red wine at meals seems to neutralize the effects of the cholesterol. Of course, everything must be done in moderation, including drinking wine, which usually contains between 10 and 12 percent alcohol.
Asian people who live in coastal areas, consume large quantities of fish, which is highly effective in preventing buildups of saturated fats. This, combines with drinking several cups of green tea daily explains why many Asians live well into their 90’s with surpassing age 100 not at .all uncommon.
In short, the secret of living longer and looking younger may be found in what you drink on a daily basis.