The Chinese knew green tea from earliest times first as a stimulant to good digestion when consumed after a meal, stimulating the absorption of nutrients from food, but also as a powerful anti-oxidant and detoxifying agent helping to flush toxins from the body.  These qualities alone, common to all teas, would be more than enough to make it a very valuable health supplement.  But there’s  much more to green tea than this.

Green tea – nature’s fat metabolizer

If there’s one single disease that’s most characteristic of western society today it must surely be obesity; as a look around your local gym or shopping mall will quickly confirm.  And in truth, a lot of the other killer diseases of affluence, most notably diabetes and cardio-vascular problems, have chronic obesity at their root.
So can green tea help with this all too common, but disastrous health problem?   Swiss research published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in November 1999 suggests that it can.  The research concluded that green tea possessed thermogenic properties and promoted fat metabolism at a faster rate than could be explained by its caffeine content alone.  Or in layman’s terms, green tea is a powerful fat burner which can be a very useful tool in any weight loss program.

What makes green tea different

What makes green tea different from the black varieties with which we’re all so familiar, since all are derived from the camellia plant, is the method of production.  Crucially, leaves for green tea are steamed rather than fermented, preventing the oxidation (ie destruction) of the vital EGCG compound which gives green tea its power.

If you’ll forgive a little scientific jargon, EGCG is short for Epigallocatechin Gallate, one of a number of catechin polyphenols that occur naturally in tea.  But what’s more important to know is that EGCG is a very powerful antioxidant, the preservation of which has been indicated by research to make green tea anything up to ten times more potent than the more common fermented varieties.

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This is not an academic difference.  In fact today’s western science is increasingly confirming the health benefits long claimed for the consumption of green tea. And amazing as it may seem, EGCG and related compounds in green tea appear directly to target the most common killer diseases commonly attributed to western affluence and diet.

One of nature’s most powerful antioxidants

Another striking example of the potential benefits of green tea is the case of the so-called “French paradox”.  Medical science had long been puzzled by the relatively low incidence of heart disease in France, despite its traditionally high fat national diet.  But then it was discovered that the red wine traditionally enjoyed in France contains significant quantities of resveratrol, an antioxidant polyphenol credited with protective powers against the effects of a fatty diet.

Amazingly enough, however, a 1997 study at the University of Kansas demonstrated that EGCG is up to twice as powerful as resveratrol.  Other research has credited EGCG with the ability to reduce total levels of cholesterol as well as improving the ratio of “good” (HDL) cholesterol to “bad” (LDL) cholesterol; and to protect against abnormal blood clotting.   This kind of thrombosis is a major risk factor for both heart attacks and strokes – still two of the biggest causes of premature death and disablement in the western world.

Green tea against cancer?

But perhaps most excitingly of all, there’s increasing evidence that the antioxidant effects of green tea may even have positive effects in the fight against cancer.  For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of a study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of oesophageal cancer in Chinese people by almost sixty percent.

And University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that EGCG can directly inhibit the growth of cancer cells without apparently harming healthy tissue.  This ground breaking study suggested that consumption of as few as four or five cups of green tea a day may have a significant inhibiting effect on tumour growth.  Whilst earlier studies had also indicated the possible anti-cancer benefits of green tea, this was the first to isolate EGCG as the compound responsible – a major step forward.

Whilst traditional Chinese medicine retains its focus on promoting the balance and harmony of the entire human organism;  on unleashing and then harnessing the body’s own incredible healing powers, with ever increasing interest in the health promoting properties of green tea, new benefits are coming to light all the time.  Already for example, the antioxidant (ie anti–ageing) qualities of the tea are being applied to the manufacture of skin care products.   That may seem a little far fetched right now, but there’s little doubt that incorporating green tea in your daily routine can deliver dramatic improvements in your well being.

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