Tea catechins' bioavailability demonstrated by new study

A study published in the journal Nutrition shows that "green tea catechins are more bioavailable than previously observed."


"Bioavailable" means how much of an ingested substance survives digestion and whatnot to remain available for the body to absorb and use.


(For instance, that means more green tea antioxidants to fight glaucoma and other eye ailments.)


In the case of green tea, science had long known that catechins such as EGCG have the ability to fight various afflictions. What was unclear, however, was how much of those green tea catechins actually made it into the body to fight those ailments.


Therein lies the significance of this study: Now we have even more proof that compounds like EGCG really do survive the trip into our bodies.


They are, after all, such hearty compounds. (Pun intended.)



Just looking at a scene like this feels good for my eyes. (From a segment of the documentary Kyushu, Where Japan's Green Tea Grows.)


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea health benefits wrap-up

News about the health benefits of green tea just keeps coming, and the flurry has been especially heavy of late.


For instance, recently announced findings show that green tea reduces the risk of getting kidney stones, brain disorders, endometrial cancer (the most common gynecologic cancer), and type 2 diabetes, and is also heart healthy to boot.


Little green tea leaf, you are an amazing and hard-working plant.


—Mellow Monk

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The $2,500 bottle of green tea

That is a lot to pay for a bottle of green tea.


Not only are quality greens available for much less [hint, hint], but green tea's free-radical-fighting catechins begin breaking down soon after brewing, which is why freshly brewed tea is so much healthier for you.


(Bottled teas that tout their high EGCG content, for instance, have boosted the catechin artificially.)



Billed as "the green tea you enjoy in a wine glass."


—Mellow Monk

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Vitamin C boosts absorption of green tea antioxidants: study

Cathy Wong at About.com has already done an exemplary job of summarizing a study indicating that vitamin C helps your body absorb more antioxidants from your green tea, so I won't reinvent the wheel.


I will point out, however, that this study is one in a long line of research pointing to this complementarity between green tea and citrus fruits.


I would also be remiss if didn't remind the unfamiliar that there exists an age-old tradition of adding a piece of, say, dried orange or mikan peel to a pot of tea.


Yet more evidence that the ancient ones knew just what they were doing.



Don't throw that away.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea fights leukemia, study shows

I blogged about green tea and leukemia previously.


Now, a study conducted at the Mayo Clinic has found additional evidence of green tea's leukemia-fighting properties.


The active ingredient believed to be responsible for shrinking tumors in the study is, of course EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), which is found only in green tea.


The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.



And now for something completely different: An amazing photograph of Saturn's rings.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea promotes weight loss by altering the behavior of fat cells, say researchers

A study published in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism shows that white tea extract "induces lipolytic activity and inhibits adipogenesis in human subcutaneous (pre)-adipocytes."


Translation: Something in the tea causes fat cells to produce less fat and to destroy fat they have already created.


The researchers know what that "something" is—epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG):

These effects were, at least in part, mediated by EGCG . . .

Since white tea is a type of green tea, there is every reason to believe that these results apply to green tea, as well.


In fact, there is a large body of research on green tea's slimming effects.

[Edit: "Large body" pun in fat-related article completely unintentional.]


So what are you waiting for? Start sipping, everyone!



And now for something completely different—goldfish jelly.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea for cancer prevention

Health News has a concise rundown on green tea and cancer prevention, written by Dr. Cary A. Presant, MD:

[The green tea polyphenol] EGCG was shown to induce programmed cell death (apoptosis) in cancer cells growing in culture, and also reduce cancer cell growth in test tubes. It also was found to reduce growth receptors on cancer cells, so that cancer cells could not grow in response to chemicals that stimulate cancer cell reproduction.

Only a small portion of a huge, beautiful panoramic shot of the Philippines' magnificent Pana Banaue rice terraces.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea could be a new weapon against ALS

A Canadian high school student recently won big at a national science fair by showing that green tea may slow the progression of the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).


Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an antioxidant found only in green tea,

increased the growth of special motor neuron cells in mice by 16 to 30 per cent, according to some of the teenager’s test results.

That means there is a possibility the antioxidant might slow down the wasting effects of the disease, which would be good news for ALS sufferers.

The Monk has a great uncle who died of ALS, so this issue hits close to home. Then again, that makes these research findings even more comforting.



ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, named after the Yankee slugger who delivered his famous "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth" speech when the disease forced him into retirement.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea ingredient blocks HIV infection

Recently published research explains how, at a molecular level, EGCG—a tea catechin found only in green tea—can block infection by the virus that causes AIDS.



Ilona Haube (center), University of Hamburg researcher and lead author of the groundbreaking study.


—Mellow Monk

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As soon as it's bottled, green tea starts losing its catechins

A study published recently in the Journal of Food Science found that brewed green tea in storage lost a "highly significant" 32% of its catechins after 6 months.


When you consider how long it takes for a batch of bottled tea to be trucked from the factory to the warehouse to the supermarket to your home, it is easy to see that that by the time you actually twist the top off your bottled green tea, it will most certainly not contain the amounts of EGCG and other catechins indicated on the label.


This is yet another reason to brew your own tea.


If you want, you can read the entire article (PDF).



So remember—finish your cup of green tea before you head off for Greece.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea, PAHs, and breast cancer

At a recent forum on breast cancer, Dr. Gail Sonenshein gave a presentation on how a green tea catechin can help prevent breast cancer.


According to Dr. Sonenshein — a professor of biochemistry at the University of Boston School of Medicine — epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) stops polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from turning healthy breast cells into cancerous ones.


Long known as carcinogens, PAHs are generated from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, polluted air or water, cigarette smoke, and charcoal-broiled foods.


Dr. Sonenshein's work is called "one of the most detailed molecular characterizations of how green tea may be an effective risk-reduction strategy for breast cancer prevention."


—Mellow Monk

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Get more from your green tea

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and other disease-fighting catechins quickly lose their power in stored tea, and even more so in your intestine. The solution is twofold: brew your own tea and add citrus juice to it.


More about green tea and citrus here.



Oh, sorry. I thought you said, "Get more out of your green tree."


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea may inhibit HIV

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital have found that Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)—an antioxidant found only in green tea—"appears to prevent HIV-1 (the virus associated with AIDS) from infecting cells in the immune system and could prove a valuable part of treatment for the disease."


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea, blood pressure, and extreme exercise

Newsflash!


Green tea can lower your blood pressure and help you stave off illness and infection during extreme exercise.



Click on the pic to read about the connection between green tea and broccoli. Hint: it has to do with quercetin.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea may stave off type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia have found that the powerful green tea antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) may delay the onset of type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes.



Drs. Drs. Stephen Hsu (left) and Kevin Gillespie, who headed up the research project at the Medical College of Georgia.


—Mellow Monk

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Mother-to-baby benefits of green tea

Research conducted at Oregon State University and reported in the journal Carcinogenesis suggests that pregnant women who drink green tea may confer cancer-fighting benefits to their babies.


—Mellow Monk

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Benefits of tea: freshly brewed beats bottled

Salada Tea has announced a campaign that Mellow Monk can definitely get behind: to promote the health and environmental benefits of freshly brewed tea over bottled tea:

Freshly brewed green tea has up to 95 percent higher levels of the antioxidant EGCG than bottled tea (2006 U.S. Department of Agriculture database of flavonoid content in foods). Antioxidants in green tea are sensitive to heat, oxygen, sweeteners and other additives and can easily be destroyed during processing, transportation and storage of bottled tea. Studies have shown that antioxidants help with weight loss, cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases and stress.

And speaking of EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), the many benefits of this antioxidant — which is found only in green tea — may include the ability to prevent Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.





—Mellow Monk

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Green tea shown effective against breast cancer

In a study done at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the green tea catechin epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) significantly inhibited breast tumor growth in female mice.



The Medical Center at Ole Miss, where the research was conducted.


—Mellow Monk

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Study: green tea can prevent colon cancer

The latest issue of the journal Gastroenterology contains an article about how green tea can prevent colorectal cancer.


The chemistry involved is complex, but it basically breaks down like this:


The green tea antioxidant epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) interferes with the production of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). Normal cells use bFGF to form blood vessels, but cancer cells produce it in excessive amounts to reproduce and spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body.


So, by impeding the overproduction of bFGF by cancer cells, EGCG stops cancer in its tracks.


In other words, green tea may be the beverage of mellowness, but it gets tough when it comes to cancer.



Cover of the issue of Gastroenterology containing the linked-to article about green tea and colorectal cancer.


—Mellow Monk

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Freshly brewed is healthier than instant

Remember, everyone — freshly brewed green tea has more antioxidants than instant tea.



Registered dietician Katherine Zeratsky talks about brewed versus instant tea.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea and Sjogren's syndrome

Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is a common autoimmune disorder that affects up to 4 million people in the U.S. alone. It's associated with arthritis, and the most common symptoms include dry mouth and dry eyes, a result of lymphocytes (a kind of white blood cell) clustering in salivary and other glands.

Current treatment for SS is theraputic, i.e., targets the symptoms but cannot reduce or prevent damage to the glands.

However, a study published in the journal Autoimmunity suggests that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and other green tea polyphenols "may provide a degree of protection against autoimmune-induced tissue damage in SS.


—Mellow Monk

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Breast cancer inhibited by green tea

Not too long ago I blogged about a study suggesting one way green tea inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells — by disrupting the cancer cells' metabolism of fatty acids, which they need to survive.


Now a new study suggests yet another way that green tea fights breast cancer cells — by suppressing angiogenesis, or the growth of blood vessels in tumors.


The magical substance in green tea responsible for these cancer-fighting effects is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is found only in green tea.



A "first day of tea harvest" event in Japan.


—Mellow Monk

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Citrus juice boosts green tea's antioxidents

Adding citrus juice to your green tea increases the amount of EGCG and other green tea antioxidants that make it into your bloodstream. It seems that the vitamin C or something else in the juice binds to the antioxidant molecules and protects them during digestion.


So the British custom of putting lemon in black tea and the Japanese custom of putting pieces of orange peel in a pot of green tea could be rooted in ancient knowledge of the health benefits involved. Pretty cool!



No, we said green tea!


—Mellow Monk

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The ultimate (green) tea diet

Mark "Dr. Tea" Ukra's book The Ultimate Tea Diet is getting consistently excellent reviews on Amazon.com. Here are quotes from a couple of reviews:

On January 1, I cozied up with my copy of The Ultimate Tea Diet, steaming mug of coffee in hand, and by page eleven I was firing up the teakettle.

—The Culinary Tourist


I have read this book and found it to be totally fascinating and informative. I have already started the diet and have started shedding pounds but more importantly inches! It's great... they are just melting away. Plus I have more energy and feel great. I bought some of the craving teas on line and love the way they taste. I have a real sweet tooth and they have really helped me stay away from my daily dose of candy and ice cream.

—Sue from Chicago

And remember—of all the varieties of tea, green tea is thought to be the best at helping you lose weight, as it contains the highest levels of green tea polyphenols, including one found only in green tea—EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate).


Mr. Ukra has promoted his book, diet, and recipes on Good Morning America.


Here's a recipe from The Ultimate Tea Diet:

Rosemary Orange Tea Chicken
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 oranges
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon of dried, plus fresh sprigs for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon finely ground green tea
• 1-1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Mix together the olive oil, juice of 1-1/2 oranges (set aside the other half0, pepper, salt, chopped rosemary, and dry tea. Pour this marinade into a large resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken, seal the bag and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat a grill pan or barbecue until hot. Remove chicken from the bag, discarding the remaining marinade, and grill until browned on both sides. Thinly slice the remaining orange half and serve with the chicken. Decorate with a sprig of rosemary.

Serves 4.
Nutrition Per Serving: calories 170, fat 2.5g, protein 28g, carb 8g

—Mellow Monk

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Why small-farm green tea tastes better

A reader recently asked this question: Do eco-friendly farming practices [such as those of our growers] have an impact on the taste of the harvested tea?


Here is my response:

Most definitely! For instance, letting the tea plants grow naturally (instead of speeding growth with fertilizer and whatnot) lets all of the natural flavor-enhancing compounds develop to their fullest. Our growers water their tea groves with only rainwater from the sky, which avoids "diluting" the tea leaves in the same way we've all experienced firsthand in hydroponically grown grapes. Also, at harvest time, our growers harvest only what they can process right away. This stops oxidation and fermentation, locking in the flavor (and all the healthy antioxidants). On huge corporate farms, harvested tea sits around fermenting in huge piles before being processed.

For the same reasons I mentioned above, small-farm green tea is also healthier for you: since it's processed immediately after harvest, tea like ours has more EGCG and other antioxidants. The fermentation that occurs in large piles of harvested tea not only destroys the natural flavor-enhancing compounds, but also breaks down antioxidants, too.


This just shows, Grasshopper, that sometimes, such as when making tea from harvested leaves, an overly mellow approach is not necessarily the best approach.



Processed right after harvest, locking in the flavor and all the healthy antioxidants.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea beats white tea hands-down

White tea is a type of Chinese tea in which harvested tea leaves are only lightly fermented before processing, compared with other types of Chinese tea such as oolong, which is heavily fermented.


White tea's comparatively light fermentation accounts for the higher levels of antioxidants that make white tea popular of late. But note, Grasshopper, that "comparatively light fermentation" means light compared to other types of fermented Chinese teas.


Japanese green tea, in contrast, is not fermented at all before processing, which gives it the highest level of EGCG and other antioxidants of all types of teas.


Mellow Monk tea is especially chock full of antioxidants because it's processed immediately after harvest. This stops oxidation and fermentation in their tracks and locks in the flavor along with the antioxidants.


(And unlike some bottled green teas, which have EGCG and whatnot artificially added to them after brewing, Mellow Monk green tea is naturally rich in antioxidants.)


This is one of the advantages of a small-scale family farm, where the growers harvest only what they can process right away. Contrast this with big corporate-run farms, where harvested leaves often sit around fermenting in massive piles for hours or even days before processing.


In short, Grasshopper, when it comes to EGCG and other antioxidants, small-farm green tea knocks the stuffing out of white tea.


And speaking of stuffing, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.



A close-up of a tea plant at a Mellow Monk grower's tea farm in Aso, Japan.


—Mellow Monk

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How green tea inhibits breast cancer growth

A study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment reports how a catechin in green tea inhibits breast cancer.


The paper explains that the catechin epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)—which is found only in green tea—blocks the activity of an enzyme that regulates the metabolism of the fatty acids that are necessary to the survival of breast cancer cells and most other common types of human cancer cells.



The structure of the amazing molecule EGCG.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea prevents bladder inflammation

I previously wrote about a study showing that green tea may help fight bladder cancer.

While we're on the subject of bladders, another study shows that green tea catechins also protect the bladder from inflammation. This opens the door to using green tea as a treatment for inflammatory bladder diseases, which affect millions of Americans each year.

The two catechins in which this anti-inflammatory effect was observed were epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and epicatechin gallate (ECG). Of these, EGCG is found only in green tea.



It looks so welcoming... I think I'll brew up a cup right now!


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea may prevent autoimmune disease

Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is a common autoimmune disorder that affects up to 4 million people in the U.S. alone. It's associated with arthritis, and the most common symptoms include dry mouth and dry eyes, a result of lymphocytes (a kind of white blood cell) clustering in salivary and other glands.

Current treatment for SS is theraputic—it targets the symptoms but cannot cure the disease.

However, a team of researchers at the Medical College of Georgia have found that green tea could help treat this disease. Subjects given green tea extract exhibited significantly less salivary gland damage as well as significantly fewer lymphocytes and lower levels of autoantibodies—a sign of suppressed imflammation.

Researchers already know that one component of green tea – EGCG – helps suppress inflammation, according to Dr. Hsu. "So, we suspected that green tea would suppress the inflammatory response of this disease. Those treated with the green tea extract beginning at three weeks, showed significantly less damage to those glands over time.”

An abstract of the study, which was published in the journal Autoimmunity, is available online here.




The good doctor hard at work, studying how green tea fights autoimmune diseases.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea may prevent HIV-associated dementia

At the conference Experimental Biology 2007, held from April 28 to May 2 in Washington, DC., a University of South Florida neuroscientist reported that green tea may help prevent and treat HIV-associated dementia, also known as AIDS dementia complex.

More specifically, the catechin epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) "greatly diminished the neurotoxicity of proteins secreted by [HIV]." EGCG is not only the most abundant catechin in green tea—it's found only in green tea.

This news comes on the heels of a report that green tea could also reduce the risk of becoming infected with HIV/AIDS and slow its spread in those already infected.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea vs. rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School found that green tea may help treat rheumatoid arthritis.

Specifically, they found that when treated with EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), joint cells called synovial fibroblasts exhibited less inflamation when exposed to an inflammatory chemical linked to RA. In addition, "EGCG blocked a chemical chain reaction linked to inflammation and joint damage."

And EGCG, like all compounds that are beneficial to the human body, is best obtained in its natural form. And since EGCG is found only in green tea, the only way to get it naturally is by drinking natural green tea.

And sipping a nice, warm cup of green tea with one's feet up on the desk is so much more soothing than popping a green tea extract pill.





—Mellow Monk

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Green tea as a tool to fight malaria?

It's simply amazing how the list of diseases that green tea potentially fights keeps growing longer and longer with each passing day.

Researchers in Italy have added malaria to the list: They found that green tea catechins such as EGCG "strongly inhibit" the growth of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria.

However, this effect was observed in parasites growing in human red blood cells outside the body; whether this effect occurs inside the body has yet to be verified, although continued research is most definitely warranted, the scientists say.

The above link is to an abstract of the study. You can read the full-length version here.


—Mellow Monk

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The quest for answers about EGCG

The quest begins:

After seeing the Snapple commercial, promoting its "new green tea with the most EGCG on Earth," and reading about Coca-Cola's new green tea drink with EGCG content that creates "negative calories," my inquiring mind wanted to know, what exactly is EGCG, and what can it do for me?

The seeker's conclusion:

However, despite all the what-ifs, I'm still a little bit sold on EGCG's advantages. I'm not going to go out and spend the over four dollars it would take to get the right amount from Enviga... But I might substitute my usual mocha for a piping hot green tea.

You are wise beyond your years, grasshopper.

—Mellow Monk

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