Drinking black tea may reduce your risk of ovarian cancer
Judging from the women in my practice, ovarian cancer may well be the most-feared diagnosis, even more than breast cancer. Why? Because the vast majority of ovarian cancers are not detected until they are quite advanced: only 15% of all ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed at an early stage of the disease (ovariancancer.org).
Does drinking iced tea count toward your recommended total daily water intake?
I know we are supposed to drink 8 glasses of water a day to be healthy, but it is so hard to get it all down because I hate water. Would iced tea accomplish the same thing since it is made with water?
Will green tea capsules help me improve my blood sugar levels?
I drink one cup of green tea daily. I am wondering if taking green tea capsules would give me much more of the health benefits of green tea. Is one cup daily enough to improve blood sugar levels?
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I've reported on several reasons to avoid sugared soft drinks, including:
A study in Germany looked at the types of beverages that children between the ages of 9 and 18 consumed and correlated that amount with the change in their Body Mass Index between the two ages (Brit J Nutr 2008; 99:1370-1379).
It is important to note that in Germany, sugared carbonated soft drinks contain sucrose to sweeten them, as opposed to sugared carbonated soft drinks in the United States, which usually contain high fructose corn syrup. Girls in the US also drink a lot more of those carbonated soft drinks than fruit juices, while in Germany this is reversed. (The German scientists theorize that girls in Germany drink more fruit juice because it is more "socially acceptable" than sugared soft drinks.)
Despite the differences, researchers found that the more sugared soft drinks a child drank, regardless of whether that soft drink was a carbonated soda or a fruit juice, the more quickly their Body Mass Index rose as they grew. At the beginning of the study, at age 9, only 4% of boys were overweight and 8.4% of girls, while at the end of the study, at 18 years of age, 6.4% of boys were overweight and 5% of girls were overweight. That's great news until you realize that the number of obese boys increased from 0 to almost 1% and the number of obese girls increased from 1.7% to 5.9%!
The evidence is piling up against sweetened liquids, even if they are "diet" and even if they seem to be better for you by virtue of being fruit juice. Instead, drink water. Can't bring yourself to drink water? Tea and coffee, whether iced or hot and unsweetened, taste great and also contain high amounts of antioxidants.
First posted: May 21, 2008