Green Tea

Green tea is more than a great accompaniment for your Shrimp Tempura—this ancient delicate tea, made from an evergreen shrub, has been used for five millennia as a medicinal herb. Made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis, green tea shows some promise as a therapy or preventative for various maladies. Enthusiasts believe it can help or treat symptoms of everything from cognitive difficulties to cancer. As with most other supplements, however, scientific evidence for most of them is scant or entirely lacking.

Medicinal Claims

Green tea is said to treat neurodegenerative diseases, high cholesterol, arthritis, cancer, and even multiple sclerosis. It addition, it is thought to aid in weight loss by raising metabolism and increasing fat metabolism. ECGC, the component in green tea responsible for many of it’s beneficial properties, has also been shown in initial testing to help prevent the HIV virus from attacking T-cells, but studies in humans have yet to be done.

Although the United States Food and Drug Administration has stated that there is no evidence to support the claims of green tea reducing risk of heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and is not yet show promise of reducing certain cancers, an issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study that adults who drank three or more cups of green tea daily had a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Other medical journals have found a link between reduced cognitive impairment in the elderly and consumption of two cups of green tea per day.

Warnings and Interactions

Although green tea is a safe food product, some may be allergic to it and others may have negative reactions to the caffeine. Large quantities of green tea may also prevent nutritional uptake due to the behavior of the polyphenols. Regardless, caffeine is the greatest concern, and those who have irregular heart beats, diabetes, fibrocystic breast disease, anxiety, or are pregnant or nursing should not drink it due to the caffeine.

Caution should be taken by those who take certain stimulant drugs (especially those containing phenylpropanolamine). Caffeine can react with a number of different medications, including lithium, and before using quantities of green tea for medicinal purposes you should check with a pharmacist and physician if you are taking any medications.

Food interactions may include grapefruit juice and milk, and the catechins in the green tea may be reduced if taken with food. Green tea may also induce forms of anemia due to it’s ability impair iron metabolism.