Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
Were so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside!
I can't help but feel like a bit of a snake oil salesman today because I am going to unabashedly try to sell you on a cure all for all that ails you. Green Tea will meet your every need. Green tea will do everything except bake bread and walk your dog. I am a green teabagger and you all should be, no, you have to be, a green teabagger too.
If you think you know all the benefits of green tea, you don't. No one does. New studies are underway, not just confirming the old studies, but revealing the incredible health benefits of a grocery store shelf item. You think the statins and aspirin are miracle drugs? Take a look below! Come and see the show.
For over two thousand years, green tea’s miraculous health benefits have been enthusiastically extolled. However, in the last two decades these anecdotal accolades began a face off with western science and were effectively asked to put up, or shut up. The final results are not in, but at half time a fair observer has to conclude, the rout is on. The shocking aspect of green tea research results not from an established consensus that green tea has some health benefits, but from the tidal wave of ongoing research indicating the breathtaking range and extent of these benefits.
Intermission for Administrative Functions.
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.
We are interested in all health, nutrition, recipe, exercise related issues and would love to hear your story. The time slots with the question marks are available. Please sign up to do a diary simply by indicating which time slot you would like in the comments.
Scheduled WHEE diaries:
October 24
Sat AM - cdkipp - Green Tea and Your Metabolism
Sat PM - Edward Spurlock (Kessler, Ch. 17)
October 25
Sun AM - Turtle Diary
Sun PM - kismet
October 26
Mon AM - NC Dem
Mon PM - ???
October 27
Tues AM - ??
Tues PM - Clio2 (Kessler, Ch. 18)
October 28
Weds AM - ???
Weds PM - Edward Spurlock
October 29
Thrs AM - A DC Wonk
Thrs PM - ???
October 30
Fri AM - ???
Fri PM ???
To date, studies have found health benefits in green tea as an antioxidant, anti- inflammatory, protectant against dementia and Alzheimer’s, periodontal health, protection against skin cancer, an anti-mutagenic, lowering cholesterol, staving off diabetes and stroke, a metabolism booster, weight loss agent, bone strengthener, inhibitor of metabolic syndrome and fatty liver diseaase, antidepressant, FDA approved treatment for forms of HPV, an antibacterial agent, an antiviral agent and both a preventative agent and quite possibly treatment for certain forms of cancer. Have I left anything out? Absolutely, the list never seems to end.
Look at the major research in just the last 18 months:
- Snider, Janice. "Green tea may promote periodontal health." Journal of the American Dental Association 140.7 (July 2009): 838(1);
- Yamabe, Noriko, Sung Kang Ki, Moon Hur Jong, and Takako Yokozawa. "Matcha, a powdered green tea, ameliorates the progression of renal and hepatic damage in type 2 diabetic OLETF rats.(Full Communication)(Report)." Journal of Medicinal Food 12.4 (August 2009): 714(8);
- Green tea consumption associated with a lower risk of death from pneumonia in Japanese women. Watanabe, Ikue, Shinichi Kuriyama, Masako Kakizaki, Toshimasa Sone, Kaori Ohmori-Matsuda, Naoki Nakaya, Atsushi Hozawa, and Ichiro Tsuji. "Green tea and death from pneumonia in Japan: the Ohsaki cohort study.(Original Research Communications)(Author abstract)(Clinical report)." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 90.3 (Sept 2009): 672(8);
- EGCG has selective anti-angiogenic effects on TEC and EPC. It is suggested that EGCG could be a promising angiogenesis inhibitor for cancer therapy. "Inhibitory effects of epigallocatechin-3 gallate, a polyphenol in green tea, on tumor-associated endothelial cells and endothelial progenitor cells." Cancer Science 100.10 (Oct 2009): 1963(8);
- Austin, Steve. "Green tea catechins reduce abdominal fat in a randomized trial.(Abstracts of Interest)(Report)." Original Internist 16.2 (June 2009): 104(1);
- Osterburg, A., J. Gardner, S.H. Hyon, A. Neely, and G. Babcock. "Highly antibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates are killed by the green tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG).(Report)." Clinical Microbiology and Infection 15.4 (April 2009): 341(6);
- Shrubsole, Martha J., Wei Lu, Zhi Chen, Xiao Ou Shu, Ying Zheng, Qi Dai, Qiuyin Cai, Kai Gu, Zhi Xian Ruan, Yu-Tang Gao, and Wei Zheng. "Drinking green tea modestly reduces breast cancer risk.(Author abstract)(Report)." The Journal of Nutrition 139.2 (Feb 2009): 310(7);
- Kim, Hong Ro, Rajesh Rajaiah, Qing-Li Wu, Shailesh R. Satpute, Ming T. Tan, James E. Simon, Brian M. Berman, and Kamal D. Moudgil. "Green tea protects rats against autoimmune arthritis by modulating disease-related immune events.(Author abstract)(Clinical report)." The Journal of Nutrition 138.11 (Nov 2008): 2111(6);
- Monteiro, Rosario, Marco Assuncao, Jose P. Andrade, Delminda Neves, Conceicao Calhau, and Isabel Azevedo. "Chronic green tea consumption decreases body mass, induces aromatase expression, and changes proliferation and apoptosis in adult male rat adipose tissue.(Author abstract)(Report)." The Journal of Nutrition 138.11 (Nov 2008): 2156(8);
- Bose, Mousumi, Joshua D. Lambert, Jihyeung Ju, Kenneth R. Reuhl, Sue A. Shapses, and Chung S. Yang. "The major green tea polyphenol, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, inhibits obesity, metabolic syndrome, and fatty liver disease in high-fat-fed mice.(Author abstract)(Report)." The Journal of Nutrition 138.9 (Sept 2008): 1677(7).
Recently, Dr. Mehmet Oz, listed his top 25 greatest health tips (notice I said overall health tips, not just nutritional tips), and regarding his selection of green tea as #14 Dr. Oz stated:
I drink green tea three times a day. It's packed with heart-boosting and cancer-stopping polyphenols that black tea doesn't offer....Green tea also delivers a boost of alertness, but from a smaller dose of caffeine than black tea. Green tea can even fight dandruff, although only if you pour it directly onto your scalp.
Dr. Oz's 25 Health Tips.
Why is green tea so special? Well, just as you might suspect from the list of wide ranging benefits, there appears to be numerous beneficial ingredients in green tea and much of the research revolves around isolating the operating agents. With respect to other teas, green tea, is not so different. In fact, green tea, black tea, and oolong tea all come from the same plant; Camellia sinensis , a perennial evergreen shrub. The big difference between green tea and the others will come as no surprise to regular WHEE readers, less processing. The suspected MVPs of the green tea healthy agent roster are the polyphenols which are thought to improve health, particularly the catechins. Four principal catechins have been identified as EC, ECG, EGC, and EGCG. Of these the most recognized and abundant is epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) which is now sold in pill form as a supplement and has become part of my daily routine.
But, forget the multitude of green tea health benefits, I wrote this diary to talk about green tea and your waistline. Yes the WHEE community cares about all these other health benefits, but our recent WHEE discussions regarding metabolism and lean body mass made me think of the role green tea could play in helping us keep our metabolism humming while shedding the unwanted fat.
In 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study entitled "Efficacy of a green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans." During a 24 hour period both the energy expenditure and respiratory quotient of 10 healthy men were measured in a respiratory chamber. The men were given either a placebo, a caffeine drink, or a caffeine drink containing 90 mg of EGCG. The study found that in comparison to the caffeine and placebo group, the EGCG participants had a 4% increase in 24 hour energy expenditure. Am J Clin Nutr 1999;70:1040–5.
In 2005 another study, now commonly referred to as the Japanese study, increased the amount of EGCG from 90 mg to 690 mg and expanded the term of the study to 12 weeks. The study utilized a group of 38 Japanese men, aged 24 to 46 whose body weight was normal to overweight. One group drank regular tea while the other group drank the tea with the enhanced EGCG. The study found that consumption of a green tea extract supplement caused a 35 percent increase in fat oxidation compared to the baseline. At the end of 12 weeks the group with EGCG had lost 5.28 pounds while the control group had lost 2.86 pounds. Nagao, Tomonori, Yumiko Komine, Satoko Soga, Shinichi Meguro, Tadashi Hase, Yukitaka Tanaka, and Ichiro Tokimitsu. "Ingestion of a tea rich in catechins leads to a reduction in body fat and malondialdehyde-modified LDL in men." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 81.1 (Jan 2005): 122(8).
There are numerous other studies, some extremely dramatic in the weight loss difference, but let me end with a 2009 study in which 132 obese individuals were split into two groups with one of the groups being given given 625 mg of EGCG over 12 weeks. The weight loss for the Green tea group was 4.9 pounds while the weight loss for the control group was 2.2 pounds. Of more interest however, was the fact that the triglyceride levels in the green tea group fell 11% versus 2% in the control group and the fat loss in the green tea group seemed specifically targeted towards the subcutaneous abdominal fat. Maki KC, Reeves MS, Farmer M, et al. "Green tea catechin consumption enhances exercised induced abdominal fat loss in overweight and obese adults." J Nutr 2009;139:264-70
Yes, a sound nutritional plan and exercise are the cornerstones of weight loss and healthy living. But green tea is a simple addition to any diet. I have a refillable water bottle and I throw a couple if green tea bags in there every morning to serve me throughout the day (I can't give up my coffee!). I also take an EGCG supplement to make sure I get up around the 600 mg level. If you don't take a supplement the consensus seems to be you should have 5 cups of green tea a day. Which Green Tea is best? Well, health wise, Men's Health did a review of some brands a few years back which I sure wish they would update.Mens Health Tea Review
Just another arrow in our health quiver, Have a great weekend and let me know if you take green tea, or any other supplement you have an interest in.