The Benefits of Green Tea

I receive a quarterly journal, The Journal of Chinese Medicine that reserves a section of the journal exclusively to studies that have been conducted around the world that would be of interest to practitioners of Chinese medicine. It’s amazing to me how many interesting studies are performed outside the United States that actually focus on something other than pharmaceuticals.

Two studies that I found interesting concerned the effects of green tea on breast health and cognitive decline. The one about breast health showed a 20 percent reduction in risk of developing breast cancer with high green tea consumption. There were no comparable results with consumption of black tea. Apparently, the anti-cancer benefits of tea are linked to the presence of water-extractable polyphenols that are much higher in green tea than black tea.

In the study on cognitive decline, according to a study conducted in Japan of more than 1000 adults in their 70’s, those that consumed two or more cups a day of green tea were half as likely to show cognitive impairment as compared to those adults who consumed two to three cups of green tea a week.

Although the study couldn’t clearly show a connection between consuming green tea and mental acuity, it may help explain why there is less dementia, especially Alzheimer’s in Japan as compared to Europe and North America.

These studies have certainly convinced me to increase my intake of green tea. My all time favorite tea supplier is Teavana that has a store in Tysons Corner. You can also order on line from them. All of their tea is loose and once you sample one cup of brewed tea, you’ll never go back to tea bags.