As the story goes, in 1211 a Japanese monk named Eisai was reported to have glorified green tea as a “miraculous medicine”.  And for centuries, the Chinese and Japanese have been drinking this liquid gold as a staple of their daily diets.  Now science is supporting what our Asian neighbors have known for thousands of years, revealing green tea’s ability to protect against cancer, heart disease, diabetes, as well as many viral and bacterial infections. 

Tea leaves, from the Camellia Sinensis plant, are packed full of antioxidants, particularly a powerhouse group called catechins.  When the leaves are picked, they are either immediately steamed, to create green tea, or allowed to dry and ferment, creating black tea.  The fermentation process destroys a majority of the catechins found in the fresh tea leaves, leaving black tea severely catechin-depleted.  However the steaming of the leaves preserves the catechin content, which is why green tea is still packed with these super-antioxidants. 

So what’s the big deal about catechins?  Well here are a handful of big deals…

• The catechins in green tea have been shown to both inhibit the growth of and destroy cancer cells without affecting healthy tissue.  They also interrupt the blood supply to cancer cells, effectively starving them and encouraging their self-destruction. 
• Catechins have a positive effect on insulin activity, making it more efficient in delivering glucose to cells.  It has even been shown that the more green tea a person drinks the less at risk they are of developing Type 2 Diabetes.
• They reduce the absorption of and increase the excretion of LDL cholesterol, lowering its levels in our blood.  They also help to prevent the oxidation of LDL, which is what creates the icky sticky stuff that clogs arteries, and therefore helps to prevent the formation of blood clots, a leading cause of heart attacks.
• Catechins have anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties which help our immune system stay strong.  They are active against the flu virus, as well as herpes, polio, and even HIV according to studies.
• Because catechins are not completely digested and absorbed in the stomach, some pass on to the intestines where they help destroy harmful bacteria, like the ones that cause food poisoning and contribute to colitis.  By helping to maintain a favorable environment for friendly bacteria, green tea also promotes good digestion.
• Green tea helps to freshen breath and prevent tooth decay by killing bad bacteria and preventing those that escape its wrath from sticking to our teeth.  It inhibits the production of plaque and reduces the production of the acid that eats away at enamel.  Green tea is also a natural source of fluoride which is essential for hardening the protective tooth enamel. 

Green tea does contain caffeine but in much smaller quantities as compared to black tea or coffee.  An average cup of joe has 90-150mg of caffeine, black tea 40mg, and green tea 20mg.  Caffeine-free options are available if those 20mg’s are still too much or if you want to give it to your kids.  But be careful because the conventional decaffeination process (using ethyl acetate) removes about 70 percent of the catechins along with the caffeine.  Look for brands that used the effervescence method (a.k.a. the carbon dioxide method) which is much gentler and leaves about 95 percent of the catechins intact. 

Tea leaves now in hand, here’s how to brew your perfect cup: bring water to a boil and pour over the tea and steep for 2-3 minutes for a smooth, nutty and delicious drink.  Steeping the tea leaves longer will draw out more of the health-promoting catechins, but will also result in a more astringent (bitter) beverage.  Six of one, half a dozen of the other!  While it shouldn’t be considered a cure-all, daily consumption of green tea can certainly help improve your health, and according Eisai, even help to prolong it.  Who knows, perhaps this liquid gold is the mystical Fountain of Youth we’ve all been looking for.