Green Tea Utah » Benefits

Green Tea And Dry Mouth – A Cure For Autoimmune Disease?

Seth Sholultes — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:02:39 +0000

Autoimmune disease affects 30 percent of elderly Americans. It can be caused by certain drugs, radiation and other diseases. In contrast, only about 5 percent of the elderly in China suffer from dry mouth.

Dr. Stephen Hsu from the Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry said:

“Since it is an autoimmune disease, Sjogren’s Syndrome causes the body to attack itself and produce extra antibodies that mistakenly target the salivary and lacrimal glands.”

However, Dr. Hsu said that green tea drinkers had significantly fewer lymphocytes and auto-antibodies, which are protein weapons produced when the immune system attacks itself.

The results indicate that green tea reduced the inflammation, as many other studies have found.

Benefits of Drinking Green Tea Source: Green Tea And Autoimmune Disease

Green Tea Antioxidant – How Tunneling Fox Out Free Radicals

Seth Sholultes — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:01:40 +0000

Scientists have used quantum mechanics to work out why green tea is good for you. The health benefits of the brew are all down to a quirk of the quantum world known as tunneling, they say.

Àngels González-Lafont and colleagues at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain have modeled the chemical reaction that allows green tea catechins to zap free radicals.

The reaction involves the catechins losing a hydrogen atom to a reactive free radical. The scientists found that in this process the radical and catechins were bound together tightly, leading to very small energy changes as the reaction proceeds.

Tunneling makes the hydrogen transfer much faster than the free radical’s reaction with the body’s vulnerable lipids so the radicals are trapped before they can do harm.

‘It’s really astounding what this [research] has done for the rest of us,’ said Vinson. ‘We had a problem understanding how polyphenols work at such low concentrations.’

‘This paper gives theoretical credence to a large amount of experimental evidence of polyphenols as in vitro and in vivo antioxidants.’

Benefits of Drinking Green Tea Source:
Green Tea Antioxidant’s Tunneling Secret

Green Tea Treat Inflammatory Bladder Disease

Seth Sholultes — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:50:24 +0000

Roughly ten million American adults have problems controlling their bladders. Bladder disease affects both men and women and can comprise incontinence or interstitial cystitis, a chronic inflammatory state that causes recurrent, urgent and painful urination and pelvic discomfort.

“We discovered that catechins found in green tea protected both normal and cancerous bladder cells from inflammation when we exposed the cells to hydrogen peroxide.”

“Although further studies are needed, these results indicate herbal supplements from green tea could be a treatment option for various bladder conditions that are caused by injury or inflammation,” said Michael B. Chancellor, M.D., professor of urology and gynaecology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Benefits of Drinking Green Tea Source: Green Tea And Bladder Diseases

Green Tea Extract EGCG – Improve Blood Flow Or Not?

Seth Sholultes — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:49:38 +0000

Many population studies have shown tea to be associated with improved endothelial function.

A study was jointly conducted by Michael Widlansky from Boston University School of Medicine and DSM Nutritional Products, maker of the Teavigo supplement.

Measurements were taken after an initial dose of EGCG (300 milligrams), 2 hours later, and after 2 weeks of supplementation with EGCG (two 150 milligrams per day).

EGCG was found to improve blood flow measure Flow Mediated Dilation (FMD) by 21% 2 hours after the initial 300 milligram dose. However, similar improvements were not observed after the end of the 2 weeks period.

Benefits of Drinking Green Tea Source:
M.E. Widlansky, N.M. Hamburg, E. Anter, M. Holbrook, D.F. Kahn, J.G. Elliott, J.F. Keaney, Jr., and J.A. Vita (2007). Acute EGCG Supplementation Reverses Endothelial Dysfunction in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease. Journal of the American College of Nutrition Volume 26, Number 2, Pages 95-102.