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Green tea has been trending in wellness circles for a while, and it’s not without merit. Starting your morning with a cup of green tea can offer numerous health advantages. It is rich in antioxidants, which help mitigate inflammation in your body. Additionally, green tea aids in boosting metabolism and promoting fat loss. It also supports enhanced brain function, reduces the risk of heart disease and certain cancers, and helps regulate blood sugar levels. To understand green tea’s effects better, Eat This, Not That consulted individuals who drank the beverage twice daily for a week and reported notable transformations. Here are the unexpected experiences they shared.
Mental Clarity
Dr. Lee S. Marcus, a Board-Certified Cardiologist and Founder of Impact Health, often endures long, intense days and experienced afternoon energy slumps that impaired his patient interactions. To counteract this, Dr. Marcus added green tea to his routine and observed surprising differences. “In just three days, my concentration during intricate cardiac procedures became noticeably sharper,” he mentions. “The mental stamina lasted four to six hours, avoiding the typical 2 PM haze.” Erinn Everhart, a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist and proprietor of Every Heart Dreams Counseling in El Dorado Hills, CA, also noticed enhanced focus after incorporating green tea into her regimen. “I experienced improved focus during EMDR therapy sessions with trauma clients,” she reports. “Handling various emotional dynamics and navigating complex therapeutic processes felt easier.” Everhart continues, “This was unexpected since I usually depend on coffee, yet green tea provided lasting mental energy without the afternoon dip.”
Improved Sleep Quality
Dr. Marcus also reported improved sleep thanks to his new green tea habit. “Interestingly, switching from coffee to green tea actually enhanced my sleep even though it contains caffeine,” he states. “I was dozing off quicker and waking up feeling more rejuvenated, a necessity during the demanding on-call hours.”
Better Gut-Brain Connection
Green tea can work as a remedy for a plethora of health issues, including improved gut-brain connection, according to Everhart. “As someone who teaches clients about the mind-gut connection (I often recommend probiotics and dietary changes), I experienced how green tea’s antioxidants improved my digestive comfort,” she says. “My morning smoothie routine paired perfectly with green tea, and I felt more balanced throughout intense therapy days. The difference was noticeable enough that I started recommending it to clients struggling with anxiety.”
Reduced Inflammation Markers
Green tea is known to reduce inflammation because its rich in antioxidants and Dr. Marcus saw an improvement with his markers in a short amount of time. “After six months of consistent green tea consumption, my own lab work showed a 15% drop in C-reactive protein levels,” he says. “As someone who screens patients for cardiovascular inflammation daily, seeing this biomarker improvement in myself was fascinating from both personal and professional perspectives.”
Improved Emotional Regulation
Green tea can have a calming effect, which both Dr. Marcus and Everhart experienced. “The most unexpected change was feeling more emotionally centered when handling difficult cases involving family trauma,” Everhart explains. “Green tea seemed to provide a calming baseline that helped me maintain therapeutic presence during challenging DBT sessions with teens.” She adds, “I was less reactive to the emotional intensity that comes with integrated trauma work.” And for Dr. Marcus, green tea helped manage his stress. “The L-theanine seemed to blunt my stress response during emergency procedures,” he explains. “I felt more composed during high-pressure situations like treating acute heart attacks, where clear thinking literally saves lives.”
Heather Newgen
