Green Tea

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GREEN Tea
Enjoy Our selection of the World's Finest Green Teas.

Green Tea by the Bag ~ Loose Leaf Green Tea

Green Tea enhances immune function. The active ingredients (polyphenols) promote immunity from many different pathogens, including protozoa, viruses and bacteria. Green tea fights free radicals, the chemicals now thought to be the most important cause of cell damage and aging. It is a more potent antioxidant than broccoli, carrots, spinach, or strawberries. Green tea strongly benefits oral health- it kills the bacteria responsible for tooth decay and blocks the attachment of the bacteria associated with dental caries to the teeth. With a host of beneficial effects for the cardiovascular system, it has been shown to balance total cholesterol and LDL, as well as triglycerides, and to support a healthy ratio of LDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol. http://www.greenteainformation.org/green-tea.htm

Green tea has a host of beneficial effects and a wide range of applications in food and medicine. First and foremost, green tea fights free radicals, the chemicals now thought to be the most important cause of cell damage and aging.
Green tea has become a thirty-year “overnight success,” and is now taking the scientific community by storm. With well over 1,500 studies in print in the scientific literature since 1963, the pace of discovery has been heating up over even the last couple of years, with dozens of groundbreaking studies appearing in the journals.
classic Green Teas By the Bag:

St. Dalfour Green Tea ~ Green Teas of India ~ Teas of Japan & China ~ Yogi Green Teas ~ Aspen Tea Green Healer ~ Exotica Green Tea

Loose Leaf Green Teas:

GENMAICHA a.k.a. Popcorn Tea ~ JASMINE with FLOWERS China Green Tea ~ STRAWBERRY GREEN TEA ~ FORMOSA GUNPOWDER ~ Ceylon GUNPOWDER ~ SENCHA FUJI Organic Green Tea ~ JASMINE GOLD DRAGON ORGANIC GREEN TEA ~ BLUEBERRY GREEN Tea ~ LEMON GREEN TEA ~ PAN FIRED DARJEELING ~ STEAMED DARJEELING GREEN TEA

Green Tea Information: This popular beverage, second in consumption only to water around the globe, is potent medicine. The herb, Camellia sinensis, is a relative of the common flowering garden camellia. When the leaves are picked, lightly steamed, and allowed to dry naturally, green tea is the result. The more flavorful black tea, popular in this country, is made by allowing the leaves to ferment before drying. This fermentation (oxidation) destroys some of the leaf’s beneficial chemicals, so green tea is richer in the health giving nutrients that are making this herb famous.

This herb has a wide range of applications in food and medicine. First and foremost, green tea fights free radicals, the chemicals now thought to be the most important cause of cell damage and aging.

Much of the research on green tea has centered on the active ingredients called polyphenols, powerful antioxidant chemicals. Tannins, large polyphenol molecules, form the bulk of the active ingredients in green tea, with catechins the dominant category, comprising about 90%. One catechin in particular stands out. Epigallo-catechin- 3 gallate (EGCG), which typically makes up about 50% of the catechin content, appears to be the most beneficial ingredient. As an antioxidant, EGCG is about 100 times more potent than vitamin C and 25 times more potent than vitamin E.

According to studies at Tufts University in Boston, one cup of green tea has more antioxidant power against the peroxyl radical, the most common type of free radical in your body, than a serving of broccoli, carrots, spinach, or strawberries.

Green tea brims with cancer-fighters. Green tea antioxidants block cancer by preventing damage to cell DNA, and studies are revealing that green tea has powerful effects in reducing the rate and severity of many types of cancer, including breast, skin, stomach, lung, colon, prostate, and possibly even skin cancer. In addition, it prevents metastasis from an original site in the skin, stomach, small intestine, liver or lung.

In particular, green tea may benefit prostate cancer. The prostate cancer mortality rate among Japanese men, who habitually drink four to six cups of green tea a day, is considerably lower than that for Western men. A study from Kobe University in Japan found that mice fed green tea extract and subjected to prostate cancer were less likely to develop the disease. A recent report from the Mayo Clinic stated that green tea even kills some prostate cancer cells.

In the test tube, EGCG has powerful anticancer effects on human lung cancer cells.

At The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, patients with cancer are currently receiving the equivalent of several cups of tea a day, in encapsulated extract form, to validate tumor shrinkage and to check for side effects from large quantities of tea.

Mitchell Marder, DDS, a dentist with concerns for whole body health, practicing in Seattle, Washington, confirms that oral heath is a reflection of the whole body, especially the digestive tract. “After all,” he says, “The gut and the mouth are the same tube.” He will often query his patients about digestive symptoms to enhance his impression of overall health.

A clean mouth is a healthy mouth. As the saying goes, “clean only the teeth you want to keep.” In addition to conventional care, the main way to keep your mouth clean is to eat a sugar free, natural foods diet. The bacteria that cause dental caries (Streptococcus mutans) thrive on sugar, promoting both plaque and cavities.

Dr. Marder has green tea on his list of herbal toothpaste ingredients, along with calendula, myrrh, plantain, echinacea, aloe and gotu kola. He also likes the oils of peppermint, cinnamon, eucalyptus and lavender, as well as Zinc and grapefruit seed extract.

Green tea benefits oral health and reduces cavities in at least five ways. It kills the bacteria that cause cavities. Research from the past decade has identified a number of substances in green tea that can weaken the cavity-causing effects of bacteria, including Streptococcus mutans. It blocks the attachment of the bacteria associated with dental caries to the teeth. It inhibits the collagenase activity of the bacteria that live below the gum line. The polyphenols in green tea are anti-inflammatory, so they reduce gum disease (gingivitis). Finally, it increases the resistance of tooth enamel to acid induced erosion.

Green tea has a host of beneficial effects for the cardiovascular system. The herb has been shown to reduce total cholesterol and LDL, as well as triglycerides, and to improve the ratio of LDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol.

Green tea lowers blood pressure. People who drink more of the beverage have lower blood pressure, presumably from the action of the herb, and research confirms the blood pressure lowering action. One Norwegian study showed a lower average blood pressure in tea drinkers. Since many cases of high blood pressure are essentially caused by high blood fats, it is likely that this is the mechanism by which green tea brings down the blood pressure.

It reduces platelet aggregation EGCG also reduces platelet aggregation, about as much as aspirin or Ginkgo biloba extract, thinning the blood, and reducing the chance of stroke.

This common herb could really help overweight people shed excess fat without side effects. Some plant components--including some in green tea—may modulate calorie and fat burning through the sympathetic nervous system, the adrenal glands and specific nerve chemicals.

Along with lowering fats in the blood, tea appears to enhance weight loss. Researchers at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, recently studied a green tea extract's fat-burning properties. Their aim was twofold: to evaluate green tea's effect on human 24-hour energy expenditure and fat oxidation, and to check out whether the metabolic effects of green tea extract were greater than those from an equivalent amount of caffeine, itself a mild thermogenic substance.

Ten healthy men were randomly assigned to receive three daily doses of either placebo, 50 mg caffeine or a green tea extract containing 50 mg caffeine and 90 mg epigallocatechin gallate, one of tea's most abundant and important components. The results, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , indicate that, compared to placebo, green tea extract caused a appreciably greater increase than pure caffeine in 24-hour energy expenditure (thermogenesis) and the portion of fat calories burned. (Green tea extract increased thermogenesis by 4%, while overall energy use went up by 4.5%.) The scientists concluded, "The green tea extract may play a role in the control of body composition via sympathetic activation of thermogenesis, fat oxidation or both."

Green tea shows thermogenic properties beyond those explained by its caffeine content. The investigators note that green tea extract contains a high amount of catechin polyphenols. These compounds may work to increase levels of fat oxidation and thermogenesis. "Stimulation of thermogenesis and fat oxidation by the green tea extract" did not raise subjects' heart rates, the researchers note. The hope is that green tea is superior to stimulant diet drugs, with their adverse heart effects.

Results indicated that 266 extra calories were burned per day while taking the green tea product. While these numbers might seem like small increases, it only takes the burning of a small amount of extra calories every day to promote serious weight loss over time.

Several studies have also shown that green tea can lower blood fats, including cholesterol, so it seems reasonable that the fat reduction could be extended to fats overall in the body. Taken together, this herb increases thermogenesis, promotes fat oxidation, and lowers blood fats- a potent combination.

Green tea enhances immune function. It fights infection from many different pathogens, including protozoa, viruses, including HIV, and bacteria. The tea polyphenols (particularly EGCG) were found to have bactericidal properties, and are believed to damage bacterial membranes. The active ingredients inhibit pathogenic bacteria that cause food poisoning. Extracts of green tea may make strains of drug-resistant bacteria more sensitive to penicillin, according to British researchers. The central ingredient EGCG protects against digestive and respiratory infections, including cholera and typhus. A solution of EGCG heavily inhibited influenza virus in the test tube. Green tea is used in Chinese medicine to treat colds that include the symptoms of chills and fatigue. Served hot, it makes people sweat, and helps to “sweat out” the cold.

Green tea appears to be of great benefit to the skin. The active polyphenols, which are found in both black and green tea, may protect against sunburn. Green and black tea extracts were rubbed on areas of the skin of human volunteers, to test the ability to protect against sun damage from relatively low levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation aimed at the subjects' forearms. The subjects had less acute redness formation after exposure to UV light than untreated areas.

Scientists at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, NJ, tested green tea, applying the polyphenol (epicatechin) containing portion, topically and also as a beverage, on the effects of cancer causing chemicals and UV light. External use reduced cancerous skin tumors by 94 percent, while drinking green tea for two weeks before and during exposure diminished sunburn as well as malignancy. The stronger the tea, and the higher the dose, the less severe were the sunburns.

Recently there has been some suggestion that green tea is able to block certain undesirable male hormones in the body. In some studies green tea extract has been shown to inhibit male hormones, the underlying cause of male pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia).

Green tea helps to regulate bowel function and regularity. One study showed a significant improvement with a daily dose of 500 mg of total polyphenols. People who drink green tea have less constipation.

Green tea may promote longevity. At least, Japanese females who are traditional practitioners of the tea ceremony have particularly low mortality rates. Considering all the other benefits of this herb, though, this seems logical.

Much of the science on the health benefits of green tea is based on the amount of green tea typically consumed in Asian countries–about three cups per day (providing 240-320 mg of polyphenols). The equivalent dose would be a good target for those wishing to reap the benefits of green tea.

Green tea, already an herbal superstar, clearly has a bright and tasty future.

This article was written by Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa, C.N., A.H.G., an herbalist and educator with more than 25 years of clinical experience. He also coauthored Herbal Defense. Karta Purkh is a member of Yogi Tea’s team of experts who help us formulate our products.

References

1 Prior RL, Cao G Antioxidant capacity and polyphenolic components of teas: implications for altering in vivo antioxidant status. Proc Soc Exp Bi ol Med 1999 Apr;220(4):255-61

2 Liao S; Hiipakka RA Selective inhibition of steroid 5 alpha-reductase isozymes by tea epicatechin-3-gallate and epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 1995 Sep 25, 214:3, 833-8

3 Gupta S, Ahmad N, Mohan RR, Husain MM, Mukhtar H Prostate cancer chemoprevention by green tea: in vitro and in vivo inhibition of testosterone-mediated induction of ornithine decarboxylase. Cancer Res 1999 May1;59(9):2115-20

4 Mayo Clin Health Lett 1999 Apr;17(4):4 Ingredient in green tea kills prostate cancer cells, study finds.

5 Masami Suganuma, Sachiko Okabe, Yasuko Kai, Naoko Sueoka, Eisaburo Sueoka, and Hirota Fujiki Synergistic Effects of (-)-Epigallocatechin Gallate with (-)-Epicatechin, Sulindac, or Tamoxifen on Cancer-preventive Activity in the Human Lung Cancer Cell Line PC-9 CANCER RESEARCH 59, 44-47, January 1, 1999]

6 Rasheed A, Haider M Antibacterial activity of Camellia sinensis extracts against dental caries. Arch Pharm Res 1998 Jun;21(3):348-52 Different bacteria were separated from saliva and teeth of cariogenic patients and identified by a variety of morphological and biochemical tests. Extracts of green tea strongly inhibited Escherichia coli, Streptococcus salivarius and Streptococcus mutans. The antibacterial effect of green and black tea extracts were compared with those of amoxicillin, cephradine and eugenol.

7 Otake S, Makimura M, Kuroki T, Nishihara Y, Hirasawa M Anticaries effects of polyphenolic compounds from Japanese green tea. Caries Res 1991;25(6):438-43
The dental caries inhibiting effect of the extract from Japanese green tea, one of the most popular drinks in Japan, was studied both in vitro and in vivo. The crude tea polyphenolic compounds (designated Sunphenon) from the leaf of Camellia sinensis were found to effectively inhibit the attachment of Streptococcus mutans strain JC-2 (serotype c) to saliva-coated hydroxyapatide discs. Sunphenon was also inhibitory to water-insoluble glucan formation from sucrose by crude glucosyltransferase of S. mutans JC-2 (c). Among the tea catechins tested, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate and (-)-epicatechin gallate showed the most potent inhibition of the glucosyltransferase activity. Finally, significantly lower caries scores were observed in specific pathogen free rats infected with S. mutans JC-2 (c) and fed a cariogenic diet and/or drinking water containing 0.05% Sunphenon as compared with control rats not receiving polyphenolic compounds.

8 Rasheed A, Haider M Antibacterial activity of Camellia sinensis extracts against dental caries. Arch Pharm Res 1998 Jun;21(3):348-52

9 van het Hof KH, Wiseman SA, Yang CS, Tijburg LB Plasma and lipoprotein levels of tea catechins following repeated tea consumption. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1999 Apr;220(4):203-9

10 Stensvold I, Tverdal A, Solvoll K, Foss OP. Tea consumption. relationship to cholesterol, blood pressure, and coronary and total mortality. Prev Med 1992 Jul;21(4):546-53
National Health Screening Service, Oslo 1, Norway.
BACKGROUND AND METHODS. The relation of tea to cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, and mortality from coronary heart disease and all causes was studied in 9,856 men and 10,233 women without history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes. All men and women 35-49 years of age from the county of Oppland (Norway) were invited to participate; the attendance rate was 90%. RESULTS. Mean serum cholesterol decreased with increasing tea consumption, the linear trend coefficient corresponded to a difference of 0.24 mmol/liter (9.3 mg/dl) in men and 0.15 mmol/liter (5.8 mg/dl) in women between drinkers of less than one cup and those of five or more cups/day, when other risk factors were taken into account. Systolic blood pressure was inversely related to tea with a difference between the same two tea groups of 2.1 mm in men and 3.5 mm in women. Altogether 396 men and 237 women died from all causes, and of these 141 and 18, respectively, died from coronary heart disease during the 12-year follow-up period. The mortality rate was higher (not statistically significant) among persons drinking no tea or less than one cup compared with persons drinking one or more cups/day. This applies to men and women and to coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality. For men, the relative risk (one or more versus less than one cup) for coronary death from Cox regression was 0.64 (95% CI:0.38, 1.07).

11 Han LK, Takaku T, Li J, Kimura Y, Okuda H Anti-obesity action of oolong tea. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1999 Jan;23(1):98-105

12 Dulloo AG, Duret C, Rohrer D, Girardier L, Mensi N, Fathi M, Chantre P, Vandermander J. Efficacy of a green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans. Am J Clin Nutr 1999 Dec;70(6):1040-5
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva.
BACKGROUND: Current interest in the role of functional foods in weight control has focused on plant ingredients capable of interfering with the sympathoadrenal system. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether a green tea extract, by virtue of its high content of caffeine and catechin polyphenols, could increase 24-h energy expenditure (EE) and fat oxidation in humans. DESIGN: Twenty-four-hour EE, the respiratory quotient (RQ), and the urinary excretion of nitrogen and catecholamines were measured in a respiratory chamber in 10 healthy men. On 3 separate occasions, subjects were randomly assigned among 3 treatments: green tea extract (50 mg caffeine and 90 mg epigallocatechin gallate), caffeine (50 mg), and placebo, which they ingested at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. RESULTS: Relative to placebo, treatment with the green tea extract resulted in a significant increase in 24-h EE (4%; P < 0.01) and a significant decrease in 24-h RQ (from 0.88 to 0.85; P < 0.001) without any change in urinary nitrogen. Twenty-four-hour urinary norepinephrine excretion was higher during treatment with the green tea extract than with the placebo (40%, P < 0.05). Treatment with caffeine in amounts equivalent to those found in the green tea extract had no effect on EE and RQ nor on urinary nitrogen or catecholamines. CONCLUSIONS: Green tea has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation beyond that explained by its caffeine content per se. The green tea extract may play a role in the control of body composition via sympathetic activation of thermogenesis, fat oxidation, or both.

13 Kono S, Shinchi K, Ikeda N, Yanai F, Imanishi K. Green tea consumption and serum lipid profiles: a cross-sectional study in northern Kyushu, Japan. Prev Med 1992 Jul;21(4):526-31
Department of Public Health, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Japan.
METHODS. The relation between green tea consumption and serum lipid concentrations was examined using cross-sectional data on 1,306 males who received the retirement health examination at the Self-Defense Forces Fukuoka Hospital between October 1986 and December 1988. RESULTS. After adjustment for rank, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and body mass index, serum total cholesterol levels were found to be inversely related to the consumption of green tea while no association was noted with serum triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Adjusted mean concentrations of total cholesterol were 8 mg/dl lower in men drinking nine cups or more per day than in those consuming zero to two cups per day. Serum cholesterol levels were inversely associated with traditional Japanese dietary habits (intake of rice and soy bean paste soup) and positively associated with Westernized habits. Additional adjustment for these dietary variables did not alter the inverse relation between green tea and total cholesterol.

14 Hu, Z. (1992) Mitogenic activity of (-) epigallocatechin gallate on B-cells and investigation of structure-function relationship. Int. J. Immunopharmacol. 14 : 1399-1407.

15 Ryu, E. (1982) Prophylactic effect of tea on pathogenic microorganism infection to animals and humans. Int. J. Zoonoses. 9 : 126-131.

16 Clark KJ, Grant PG, Sarr AB, Belakere JR, Swaggerty CL, Phillips TD, Woode GN An in vitro study of theaflavins extracted from black tea to neutralize bovine rotavirus and bovine coronavirus infections. Vet Microbiol 1998 Oct;63(2-4):147-57

17 Nakane, H. and Ono,K. (1989) Differential inhibition of HIV-reverse transcriptase and various DNA and RNA polymerases by some catechin derivatives. Nucleic Acids Research, Symposium series 21, 115.

18 Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 1998;42:211-216

19 Shetty, M. et al 1994 Antibacterial activity of tea (Camellia sinensis) and coffee (Coffee arabica) with special reference to Salmonella typhimurium. J. Commun. Dis. 26: 147-150.

20 Conney, A.H., et al. "Inhibitory effect of green tea on tumorigenesis by chemicals and ultraviolet light," Prev Med, 21(3): 361-69, May 1992.

21 Sohn OS; Surace A; Fiala ES; Richie JP Jr; Colosimo S; Zang E; Weisburger JH Effects of green and black tea on hepatic xenobiotic metabolizing systems in the male F344 rat. Xenobiotica 1994 Feb; 24 (2): 119-27

22 Liao S; Hiipakka RA Selective inhibition of steroid 5 alpha-reductase isozymes by tea epicatechin-3-gallate and epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 1995 Sep 25, 214:3, 833-8

23 Sadakata, S. Et al. (1995). Mortality among female practitioners of Chanyou (Japanese tea ceremony). Tohoku J. Exp. Med. 166:475-477

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