Green tea research shows great promise on the fight of obesity and prevention of numerous cancers in adults including breast, colon, skin and blood. In addition to promoting healthy body weight and composition, green tea may also help other conditions such as autoimmune disorders, diminish cardiovascular disease risk, protect against complications of diabetes and cataracts.
The FDA has finally recognized the health-promoting properties of green tea and has approved the first prescription drug derived from green tea to treat genital warts.
A catechin EGCG in green tea may work to promote healthy weight management by:
1. Reducing fat cell proliferation
2. Decreasing body and fat mass
3. Inhibiting fat absorption
4. Lowering blood levels of triglycerides, cholesterol, glucose, and insulin.
Polyphenols make up for 30 to 40% of green tea, as opposed to roughly 3-10% of black tea. Polyphenols in tea are classified as catechins, EGCG being the most active.
Green tea has demonstrated health-promoting benefits in dosages ranging from 2 to 10 cups of tea daily. Green tea supplements are typically standardized for their content of polyphenols, primarily EGCG. Optimal dosee are approximately 1400-2800 mg a day of a green tea extract with a minimun 95% polyphenols content, taken with meals.
Source: Life Extension www.lef.org
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Doing my best to answer your question...the links all lead to my website which has a lot of information about different types of tea.
White tea is not just immature green tea leaves. It's a less processed type of tea...the tea is withered and dried, but not steamed or pan-fired the way green teas are. There are many different kinds of white tea as well as many different kinds of green tea. Caffeine content varies greatly from one type of tea to the next; "tippy" teas made with more buds and fewer mature leaves tend to have the most caffeine. Thus, silver needle / bai hao yinzhen white tea, a white tea made only out of buds, tends to have more caffeine than shou mei, a white tea made out of large leaves.
Some roasted green teas, such as hojicha or Japanese roasted green tea have very little caffeine, as the roasting destroys the caffeine. Unfortunately, it also destroys most of the catechins (hojicha has very little EGCG left).
If you're interested in the benefits of tea but without caffeine, you may want to look at rooibos or honeybush. Both are plants native to South Africa, which have been found to have many similar health benefits to the tea plant, and both are naturally caffeine-free. Also, you may want to look at pu-erh tea, an aged tea which is often much lower in caffeine because it has broken down. In addition, there are many other herbal teas that have been found to have health benefits...try looking up mint or lemon balm!
I hope this helps!
October 21, 2009 - 12:38pmThis Comment
Wow, that's pretty interesting. I truly believe that teas can be powerful in the prevention of some diseases.
January 31, 2009 - 10:04pmI have a question about white tea...isn't that just immature green tea leaves? I wonder how it fits in the way of health benefits.
I have a heart condition, so I typically avoid caffeine, and therefore I avoid green tea. I have seen decaf. green tea in the store, but am a little wary of the decaf. processes used. Do green tea supplements have much caffeine in them??
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