綠茶真的有益健康嗎?
It's a drink which has become synonymous with a healthy lifestyle - but is green tea the magical potion many health sites would have us believe? Green tea has been popular in China for centuries, and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a number of health issues - including depression.
這一飲料已成爲健康生活方式的代名詞--但綠茶真的是魔法藥水嗎（很多健康網站希望我們這樣認爲）？綠茶已在中國流行了好幾個世紀，也被用於中藥治療一系列健康問題--包括抑鬱。
Its virtues have also been extolled by celebrities and so-called health experts for a number of reasons. These include its ability to help weight-loss, as well as containing antioxidants which are believed to help combat different types of cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's. Given these claims, it's easy to see green tea as sort of magical elixir.
由於多種原因，綠茶的好處也得到了名人和所謂的健康專家的讚美。原因包括：其有助於減肥的能力、同時含有有助於抵抗多種癌症、心臟病和阿爾茲海默症的抗氧化劑。鑑於這些說法，綠茶很容易被視作神奇的靈藥。
1. Green tea and weight loss
1. 綠茶和減肥
Green tea contains B vitamins, folate (naturally occurring folic acid), manganese, potassium, magnesium, caffeine and other antioxidants, such as catechins. It's catechins - along with green tea's naturally occurring caffeine - which are thought to help the body burn more calories.
綠茶含有B族維生素、葉酸（天然存在的葉酸）、鎂元素、咖啡因和其它抗氧化物，如兒茶素。人們認爲綠茶的兒茶素和其天然含有的咖啡因有助於人體燃燒更多的卡路里。
Weight-loss products containing green tea have a higher concentration of catechins and caffeine than the typical green tea beverage. However, there's some bad news. A review from 2012 of 18 studies involving 1,945 people found no significant effect of weight loss from drinking green tea.
含有綠茶的減肥產品比典型的綠茶飲料含有更高的兒茶素和咖啡因濃度。然而壞消息是，2012至2018年間開展的涉及1945人的綜述發現：喝綠茶並沒有顯著的減肥效果。
2. Green tea and cholesterol
2. 綠茶和膽固醇
Thanks again to the catechins, in a reputable review from 2013 of 11 studies involving 821 people, it was found daily consumption of green and black tea (as a drink or a capsule) could help lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
再次感謝兒茶素，2013年對11項涉及821人的有聲譽的綜述發現：每天喝綠茶和紅茶（飲料或者膠囊）有助於降低膽固醇和高血壓。
It's important to note, however, that the authors of the study pointed out the trials were short-term, and cautioned longer-term trials would be needed to substantiate their findings. These were back up by an earlier review in 2011, which found drinking green tea enriched with catechins led to a small reduction in cholesterol, a main cause of heart disease and stroke.
然而，值得注意的是，研究的作者指出：試驗是短期的，並警告稱需要長期試驗來證實他們的發現。2011年的一份綜述支持這一觀點，發現富含兒茶素的飲用綠茶會導致膽固醇略微降低，膽固醇是導致心臟病和中風的主要原因。
Though no one could say for certain how much green tea a person would need to drink to reap the benefits.
儘管沒有人能夠確定需要喝多少的綠茶才能獲得這個好處。
3. Green tea and cancer
3. 綠茶和癌症
On this the NHS is clear. There is no evidence drinking green tea protects against different types of cancer.
英國國民健康體系對此十分清楚。沒有證據證明喝綠茶能夠抵抗不同類型的癌症。
