Green tea anyone? How much should I drink?

Green tea is one of the most popular beverages in the world, and there's no shortage of people ready to sing its praises. True that the light, pleasantly flavored drink has been associated with many benefits to the body... helping to lower cholesterol, burn fat, fight cancer, protect against heart disease, preventing diabetes, stroke and even holding off dementia. It's no wonder everyone is so excited about potential green tea health benefits.

Science has found that green tea is loaded with antioxidants, known as catechins, which hunt for DNA damaging free radicals that can lead to cancer developing, blood clots and hardening of the arteries.

It's also a rich source of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a very powerful antioxidant that not only has shown itself to minimize the growth of cancer cells, it can kill them without hurting healthy tissue.

Because the green variety of tea, unlike either black or oolong, undergoes minimal processing (it is not fermented like other teas) the beneficial substances naturally present in the plant stay more concentrated.

Other potent natural sources of these types of antioxidants are grapes, berries, red wine as well as dark chocolate.

Green tea has been used for as long as 4,000 years as part of traditional Chinese medicine. Still, there have been few large studies in humans outside the East, where the population drink this type of tea as an integral part of their diet.

This causes researchers to wonder if the outcomes of such studies are influenced by additional lifestyle factors - perhaps the high intake of fish, vegetables and soy? And just how much of the green stuff do you need to be drinking? Adding to the complexity is that EGCG can't always be fully metabolized by the body.

Researchers have been using a synthetic version of EGCG to successfully bring down the size of prostate cancer tumors. Human studies just haven't shown these kinds of results... yet.

Part of the problem is finding populations outside Eastern nations who drink green tea in sufficient quantities and for a good long time. Add to this that cancer is an especially tough disease to pinpoint the beginning of abnormal cell growth.

The thing is, you can't add green tea to your diet, a cup or two here and there, and get the benefit. Most research in this area has found you need significantly more, at least three to six cups a day to get the health benefits.

How the tea is prepared is vital, using bags or loose tea is the optimum choice - it must be brewed. You aren't getting anything from an iced green tea drink you buy at a store down the street.

If you have health issues like kidney disease, stomach ulcers, heart problems or certain psychological conditions, adding green tea to your diet might not be a good idea. Talk with your healthcare provider to be sure this beverage is safe for you.

As for the rest of us, moderate green tea intake is safe, though you will be getting some amount of caffeine (less than a cup of coffee) and a small amount of vitamin K per cup. Keep in mind too that the natural dietary source is always better and more effective than a supplement or extract to make the most of green tea health benefits. The average cup of green tea brings your body from 50-150 mg of antioxidants... so drink up.
James F. Mitchell
562-253-3502