According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, tea is second only to water as the most consumed beverage in the world. In particular, green tea is being increasingly touted for its health benefits. It is now possible to get the health benefits of drinking green tea by taking green tea extract instead.
Catechins
Green tea may offer several potential health benefits, including protection from heart disease, diabetes, liver disease and cancer. Green tea and green tea extract are loaded with antioxidant molecules essential for destroying harmful oxidizing agents called free radicals. The main class of antioxidants found in green tea extract is a class of compounds called polyphenols, or catechins. There are four basic antioxidant catechins in green tea extract: epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, epicatechin and epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG. EGCG is reportedly the most important green tea catechin, because it has been shown to have the most antioxidant activity of all green tea ingredients.
Quercetin
Green tea also contains another class of antioxidant compounds called flavonoids. One of these flavonoids, called quercetin, is also one of the heart-healthy promoting antioxidants found in red wine. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, quercetin has been shown to reduce cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation. Quercetin may also reduce the risk associated with heart disease and cancer.
Myricetin
Myricetin is another antioxidant flavonoid found in green tea extract. Protective health benefits of myricetin include reducing the risk of certain cancers. In a study published in the April 2007 issue of "Carcinogenesis," scientists determined that myricetin prevented the transformation of normal skin cells into cancerous cells. While these results are encouraging and support an anti-cancer effect of myricetin, more research is needed to validate these results.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Green Tea
- "Food Chemistry": Extraction of Active Ingredients from Green Tea (Camellia sinensis): Extraction Efficiency of Major Catechins and Caffeine
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Quercetin
- "Carcinogenesis": Myricetin is a Novel Natural Inhibitor of Neoplastic Cell Transformation and MEK1
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