Caring for your immune health is essential to your wellness. Your immune system consists of proteins and cells, which combine to form an intricate network that defends your body from disease. When your immune system is functioning in a healthy capacity, you can recover more quickly from illness and fight disease-causing germs, cancer cells and parasites that enter your system.
If you’re concerned with improving your immune health, the best thing you can do is be open to making lifestyle changes with researched benefits, such as getting more exercise and drinking green tea. Learn how to prepare for flu season in the following guide, with tips on how to improve your immune system through times of illness and recovery.
Why You Should Boost Your Immune System
You probably know what an immune system is and its role in your health, but did you know about its connection to your neurological and endocrine systems? Your immune system coordinates essential functions with every other system in your body, and making an effort to care for it can help you feel better.
Your immune health directly relates to your immune age, which can be higher or lower than your chronological age based on your personal risk factors. Immune age risk factors include:
- A lack of sleep
- A stressful environment or life events
- A diet low in nutrients and essential vitamins and minerals
The benefits of a strong immune system include:
- Anti-aging effects: Even as your chronological age increases, your immunological age is influenced by controllable factors.
- Higher energy: Practicing a regular immune health routine is like starting any health regimen and can increase your energy and elevate your mood.
- Memory recall: Good immune health is linked to higher memory retention and concentration.
What Makes Green Tea an Immunity Booster?
Both good and bad bacteria live in your gut, and both are required to keep your body healthy. Fermented foods and fiber-heavy products are often marketed as being effective immunity boosters, but good fiber is also key for simply keeping your immune system functioning effectively. When you drink green tea made with green tea powder, such as Matcha or Sencha powder, as an immunity booster, you’re getting a delicious beverage packed with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fiber.
Consuming the green tea plant in powder form regularly can successfully provide the health advantages described above. All of the nutrients in green tea leaves work together to provide endless health benefits. Key factors of green tea make it an ultimate immunity booster. Consuming the entire leaf in a powder means consuming such a powerful plant as a whole food, which provides more nutritional values than brewed ‘juice.’ The benefits of green tea are that it:
- Contains catechins: Green tea is antibacterial, antiviral and antioxidative because of its catechins. The catechins inhibit viruses after exposure to an antigen at all stages of the viruses’ development.
- Contains strictinin: This is how green tea helps to inhibit hemifusion, or the initial stage of a virus absorbing into the cell membrane. Strictinin has been shown to provide some immune protection from this process.
- Is anti-allergen: As you work to boost your immunity, green tea prevents invoking new allergic responses in its effects.
- Provides hydration: Studies have shown that tea is nondiuretic even when consumed at high altitudes. This means you can hydrate by drinking tea similarly to drinking water.
- Feeds your microbiome: Green tea contains plant-based prebiotics that help promote digestion and keep the immune system strong.
- Relaxes the body: Green tea supports quality sleep and your overall stress management.
- Is anti-cancer: Green tea can assist your body in fighting cancer cells in each stage of cancer growth, including prevention by nutralizing free radicals, inhibition of matastatis, and leading cancer cell’s death, called apoptosis.
Types of Immunity-Boosting Tea
While you’re learning how to improve your immune system, try using green tea as an immunity booster that can help enhance your quality of life. Since the teas you find in shops vary in how the leaves were cultivated and harvested, the quality tends to be different between brands.
Your existence is holistic, and green tea is holistic. We want to help you live your life as your healthiest self. If you want to try green tea for health purposes, look for these varieties:
1. Sencha Green Tea Powder
Sencha tea is rich in catechins because it is grown in full sun. Sencha of a good quality brews a yellow tea that is refreshing to drink and low in caffeine. Green tea plants are a deep green color, and the sunlight helps leaves grown to produce Sencha tea without a high chlorophyll content, making them slightly less green in comparison to the tea plants grown to produce Matcha, which is grown in shade.
Sencha tea contains a high amount of vitamin C and catechins due to its exposure to sunlight. The natural antioxidants in Sencha help prevent oxidative damage and fight free radicals, your body’s natural by-products that build up over time. Free radicals cause cellular damage and contribute to the growth of cancer. Excessive free radicals also increase the risk of chronic diseases and aging. Powerful phytochemicals, such as Polyphenols, detoxify the free radicals and Sencha powder’s catechins are an example of such powerful phytochemicals.
Sencha tea can be consumed regularly to keep your immune system healthy.
2. Matcha Green Tea and Gyokuro
Matcha powder is a bright green powder you can mix with hot water without steeping. Matcha is known as “shade-grown tea,” and the shading period creates a unique nutritional profile of Matcha. However, Matcha is not the only shade-grown tea. Matcha is a powder form, however, shade-grown tea is also available as loose-leaf tea: Gyokuro (g-yo-koo-roh). This variety of loose-leaf green tea is also rich in L-theanine and caffeine.
The L-theanine in shade-grown tea promotes brain activity, increasing beta, alpha and theta waves. Consuming Matcha tea on its own rarely leads to issues with caffeine consumption because the amount of caffeine is less than in coffee, and the L-theanine helps offset caffeine’s effects.
You get a high dose of polyphenols when you consume Matcha tea because you ingest the leaf matter along with the juice. Matcha tastes sweet and has high versatility in the food industry. Its high chlorophyll content gives it unique properties as a natural green dye, and it is commonly used as a flavoring and coloring agent for smoothies, puddings and pastries.
3. Turmeric Tea
Turmeric is a spice you can use for cooking or drink as a nutrient-rich tea. Turmeric is a major ingredient in our popular adaptogen powder, “Anti-Inflammatory.” You can also combine “Anti-Inflammatory” powder with another tea to enjoy the benefits of both.
Turmeric contains a high amount of curcumin, making it a distinctive golden color. Some research has indicated that curcumin can stimulate the immune system by assisting in the growth of immune-system cells and reducing inflammation in the body. In addition to boosting your immune system, turmeric might help with inflammatory conditions such as gout or arthritis.
Turmeric also has antimicrobial properties, so it is commonly consumed for colds and flues. Turmeric has an earthy, bitter flavor and makes a potent tea when used in moderation or combined with other herbs or teas.
Curcumin, a component of Turmeric, was found to create a synergy with green tea catechins to enhance their anti-cancer abilities when they are consumed together.
4. Hibiscus Tea
Hibiscus tea is composed of the leaves and dried flower petals and sepals of the hibiscus plant. The flowers are colorful, with red being a common variety. Our “Hibiscus Blood Orange” tea is a tasty and healthful tea.
The beneficial antioxidants in hibiscus tea are primarily anthocyanins, which give the flowers their strong hue. Anthocyanins strengthen cell membranes by making them less porous, which could increase their protection from invading germs and free radicals. This herb is good for preventing cellular damage and can help defend your body from free radicals that cause it.
Hibiscus makes a tart-tasting tea often blended with other herbs or fruits for additional nutrition and combined health benefits. It has a hint of a cranberry flavor without sweeteners or additives.
5. Acai Berry Tea
The acai berry is considered a “superfood” capable of providing quick nourishment. Acai berry tea is made from drying the deep purple palm fruit of the same name. The berries are also delicious when eaten raw or baked.
Acai berries are high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, especially polyphenols. Regularly consuming acai berry beverages can help support your immune system and reduce inflammation. They are also nutrient-rich and contain amino acids, omega fatty acids, fiber and even protein. Their high nutritional content makes them beneficial for assisting those with poor or suppressed appetites.
Acai berry tea tastes earthy and tart, with a similar flavor to raspberries without using sweeteners. Our organic Acai Juice powder made with acai berries can also be blended into nutritious smoothies or used as a flavoring or coloring agent in food.
6. Reishi and Cacao Tea
Reishi and cacao have been used for thousands of years as tools for healing in indigenous cultures throughout Central America. In modern days, the products combined with these two plant-based powders are marketed as “alternative coffee” or “mushroom coffee,” as two flavors compliment each other.
Not only do reishi and cacao taste great together, but–on a medicinal level–they are quite the power duo. Cacao is known to be an activating compound in the process of breaking down the mushrooms, assisting our bodies in truly reaping the power of the healthful power of reishi. “Immune Booster” is our proprietary herbal blend, which was created to deliver a delicious arrangement of flavors and benefits.
Order Green Tea Online With SEI MEE TEA
Are you ready to make healthy lifestyle changes to improve your immune health? You can sample high-quality Japanese green teas and fruit mixes to find out what makes the most difference for you. SEI MEE TEA stocks organic blends high in antioxidants and catechins. We have both Sencha and Matcha green teas, and we carry options with turmeric, hibiscus, and acai berries.
Order teas and herbal mixes online today, or reach out to us online to ask about any of our products.
