The Benefits of Green Tea

There have been quite a bit of rave about green tea and the benefits that it brings. The Chinese have been using this tea for centuries in traditional medicine curing headaches, joint and muscle pains and even indigestion. Japanese men are shown to have a low incidence of heart disease even though a large percentage are smokers. As a result of these findings numerous scientific studies have been done on the extracts of green tea due to these claims.


First off, what is green tea and how does it differ from other teas. Green tea as well as black tea, white and oolong are made from the leaves of the plant Camellia sinnensis. The leaves are dried and depending on the degree of oxidation which they undergo you get the different type of tea.

Green tea is made by drying the leaves and passing them through steam careful not undergo oxidation. This leaves the tea with a "grassy" flavour.

Black tea, the most popular of all is made from the young leaves and buds is completely oxidized or fermented after the leaves are dried. This leaves the tea slightly bitter to taste.

Oolong is somewhere in between and is partially fermented or oxidized. This leaves it a smoother taste.

White tea is similar to the oolong in that it is only partially fermented. The difference lies in the harvesting. The leaves are picked only twice per year and just before the buds of the plant begins to open.

The most talked about health benefit of green tea is its link to the reduction of certain types of cancers. This is due to the abundance of antioxidants particularly the catechin polyphenol, Epigallocatechin gallate, EGCG. This along with other of its type can inhibit the growth of cancer cells and kill cancer cells by way of free radical elimination or neutralization. Free radicals are damaging compounds in the body that alter cells, tamper with DNA (genetic material), and even cause cell death. Free radicals occur naturally in the body, but environmental toxins (including ultraviolet rays from the sun, radiation, cigarette smoke, and air pollution) also give rise to these damaging particles. Scientists believe that free radicals contribute to the aging process as well as the development of a number of health problems including cancer and heart disease.

Epigallocatechin gallate, EGCG

All the teas listed above contain antioxidants but due to the processing techniques used green tea has the highest concentration. The steaming process that green tea undergoes does not oxidize the polyphenols and are therefore available to fight the free radicals that are present in the body.

The major negative with green tea is that it contains caffeine which may cause insomnia and all the other ill effects of caffeine. However there are decaffeinated versions available with the same health benefits.

Of course drinking green tea should be paralleled with healthy living and eating habits for a fuller healthier life. Tea can be had at anytime of the day and it counts toward you daily intake of water too. So the next time you find yourself reaching for a glass of soda, juice or a cosmopolitan with you next meal choose a cup of green tea instead you'll be glad you did in the long run.

For further reading you can check out the following references

• Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 290: C616-C625, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00425.2005 0363-6143/06 (http://ajpcell.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/290/2/C616)
  

• Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, July 2002, p. 864-871, Vol. 9, No. 4 (http://cdli.asm.org/cgi/content/full/9/4/864)

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_tea