Iced tea is more than just cool, especially if it's freshly made green tea. Brew some up to get:

• HELP WITH YOUR WEIGHT. Overweight or obese exercisers burned off three more pounds and 7 percent more belly fat when they drank green tea instead of another beverage with the same calories, according to a new multi center study.

• PROTECTION AGAINST CANCER. Regular drinkers were 12 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than nondrinkers, according to research in 6,928 Chinese women.

• REDUCED RISK OF STROKE. A UCLA review of nine studies found three cups a day cut the risk of stroke by 21 percent (black tea was protective too.)

• HEALTHIER GUMS. In a study of 940 men, the more green tea a man drank, the less likely he was to gum disease.

• Numbers That Count: 25% Increase in the number of snack calories people consume when they sleep 5 1/2% hours a night instead of 8 1/2 hours...
  

Source: Janis Graham, Reader's Digest 2009