Green Tea

Teas (green white, black) are made from the leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia. After harvesting, the leaves are cleaned, water extracted, concentrated, dried, and standardized to a content of 50% polyphenols. Tea leaves also contains caffeine, flavonoids, and fluoride. Tea is the second most consumed beverage worldwide after water. Green tea has been traditionally valued as a healthy beverage for thousands of years.

Forms

Green Tea: Green tea leaves are rich in polyphenol compounds such as catechins and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), its main active component that possess antioxidant activity.1 There are two distinct types of green teas: sencha and matcha. When cultivated, leaves exposed to the sunlight become sencha while matcha tea is cultivated from leaves protected from sunlight.

Matcha Green Tea Powder: Matcha tea is a distinctive type of green tea traditionally used in Japanese tea ceremonies. It is made using a unique process and the finest fresh leaves. The leaves are protected from sunlight for several weeks prior to collection to enrich chlorophyll content. They are hand-picked, steamed, dried, and then ground to a very fine powder. Matcha tea is prepared using the whole powder to retain more nutrients in the leaves including fiber, minerals, and antioxidants.

White Tea: Although white tea is made from the same plant as green tea (Camellia sinensis), it is made from the young immature tea leaves that are picked right before the buds have fully opened. Long prized as the “Emperor’s Tea,” it has a light, silky flavor that is high in antioxidants.

Health Benefits

The catechins in Green Tea may have antioxidant properties that may induce oral health, body weight control, UV protection from the sun, healthy bone mineral density, and antibacterial activity.2,3 Green Tea consumption may reduce total and bad cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol) levels, blood pressure, chronic inflammation, and oxidative stress, thus lowering the risk of cardiovascular diseases.4-6 Green Tea may also lower cholesterol in the liver and liver weight from fat deposition in the liver.6 It has been suggested that green tea consumption may help reduce body weight, BMI, and waist circumference in the elderly with Metabolic Syndrome.6 Green Tea may contain anti-cancer activities on the skin, stomach, colon, liver, lung, and pancreas.1,8

References

  1. Singh BN, Shankar S, Srivastava RK. Green tea catechin, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG): mechanisms, perspectives and clinical Biochem Pharmacol. 2011 Dec 15;82(12):1807-21. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2011.07.093. Epub 2011 Jul 30. Review. PubMed PMID: 21827739; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4082721.
  2. Dufresne CJ, Farnworth ER. A review of latest research findings on the health promotion properties of tea. J Nutr Biochem. 2001 Jul;12(7):404-421. PubMed PMID: 11448616.
  3. Cabrera C, Artacho R, Giménez R. Beneficial effects of green tea–a review. J Am Coll Nutr. 2006 Apr;25(2):79-99. Review. PubMed PMID: 16582024.
  4. Batista Gde A, Cunha CL, Scartezini M, von der Heyde R, Bitencourt MG, Melo SF. Prospective double-blind crossover study of Camellia sinensis (green tea) in dyslipidemias. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2009 Aug;93(2):128-34. PubMed PMID: 19838489.
  5. Nantz MP, Rowe CA, Bukowski JF, Percival SS. Standardized capsule of Camellia sinensis lowers cardiovascular risk factors in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Nutrition. 2009 Feb;25(2):147-54. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2008.07.018. Epub 2008 Oct 9. PubMed PMID: 18848434.
  6. Yang TT, Koo MW. Hypocholesterolemic effects of Chinese tea. Pharmacol Res. 1997 Jun;35(6):505-12. PubMed PMID: 9356199.
  7. Vieira Senger AE, Schwanke CH, Gomes I, Valle Gottlieb MG. Effect of green tea (Camellia sinensis) consumption on the components of metabolic syndrome in elderly. J Nutr Health Aging. 2012;16(9):738-42. doi: 10.1007/s12603-012-0081-5. PubMed PMID: 23131813.
  8. Fujiki H, Suganuma M, Okabe S, Sueoka N, Komori A, Sueoka E, Kozu T, Tada Y, Suga K, Imai K, Nakachi K. Cancer inhibition by green tea. Mutat Res. 1998 Jun 18;402(1-2):307-10. PubMed PMID: 9675322.