6 Beauty Benefits of Drinking Green Tea
By: Katreena Sarmiento
Green tea is much more than just a relaxing drink: It’s a beverage full of antioxidants and nutrients that benefit the body. The bioactive components of green tea can aid in weight loss, lower cholesterol, support blood control, improve brain function, and even strengthen your bones.
Today we're sharing 6 beauty benefits of drinking green tea. You can find green tea in a selection of our wellness blends, such as Mate Boost, Shake it Off, and Hocus Focus.
6 Beauty Benefits of Drinking Green Tea
Hydrates the Skin
Green tea is packed with nutrients and vitamins, including vitamin E which refreshes the skin. This micronutrient supports new skin cell growth while hydrating dry or imbalanced skin. Vitamin E also protects cells from damage throughout your body and creates a natural barrier to keep moisture in your skin.
Additionally, green tea has low caffeine content. That means drinking green tea will not make you dehydrated, therefore maintaining the moisture and hydration levels of your skin and body.
Protects Against the Sun
Providing sun protection is probably one of the most unexpected benefits of green tea, but research shows that drinking green tea keeps the skin safe against UV rays. Green tea has polyphenol antioxidants, which have photoprotective properties that protect the cells from the damaging effects of UV radiation.
The most prevalent and thoroughly studied sub-group of polyphenol in green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), has shown promise in preventing skin damage from UV rays. EGCG is also found to increase the skin’s resistance to sunburn and reduce oxidative stress.
Fights Acne
The EGCG compound in green tea is anti-androgenic and lowers lipid levels, which makes it an effective ingredient against acne. It does so by reducing sebum excretions in the skin, which then slows down acne development.
What’s more, EGCG has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. These attributes reduce inflammatory acne and fight common bacteria that contribute to acne breakouts.
Green tea’s high EGCG levels may also help with hormonally-influenced breakouts as it blocks IGF-1, a growth hormone that causes your sebaceous glands to produce more oil and make the skin cells more “sticky” causing them to easily clog the pores.
Slows Skin Aging
With the combination of vitamin E and EGCG, drinking green tea may help you combat signs of skin aging. Vitamin E not only retains skin moisture but also boosts collagen production by supporting new skin cell growth and speeding up cell regeneration — thereby reducing and preventing wrinkles.
EGCG also prevents wrinkle formation while rejuvenating your skin cells. This compound improves the structure of the skin and reduces the level of proteins that can cause visible aging, giving you firmer and younger-looking skin.
Helps with Hyperpigmentation
The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of green tea can prevent the production of excess melanin, which helps clear up dark spots. The EGCG compound in green tea is once again the front player regarding this benefit as it inhibits tyrosinase, an enzyme that triggers the production of melanin.
Impeding excess melanin production will not only reduce and prevent dark spots, but it can also give you brighter and more radiant skin.
Supports Hair Growth
Surprisingly, drinking green tea can also benefit your hair. The anti-inflammatory properties of this beverage may help fight off itchiness due to dandruff and reduce dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is responsible for hair loss. Green tea also has vitamin B that controls hair fall and gets rid of annoying split ends.
Moreover, the high concentration of EGCG in green tea works well for hair growth as well by strengthening the hair roots and activating the follicles. Green tea can even improve the texture of your hair to give you the long and luscious crowning glory that you’ve been dreaming of.
Other benefits of drinking green tea
Green tea offers a plethora of beauty benefits as well as general health gains for the body. Its antioxidants protect the body against oxidative damage and have been found to reduce the risk of cancers of the breasts, lungs, colon, skin, prostate, oral, and others.
Drinking green tea can also prevent the brain from aging and may even lower the risk of dementia. On top of that, the catechins in green tea may reduce bad breath as it inhibits the growth of bacteria.
Final Thoughts
Drinking green tea has many health and beauty benefits, that’s why it is still considered one of the healthiest drinks in the world. A growing number of studies also continues to support the claims found in earlier research regarding the drink’s advantages.
