Green tea 01 - natural antibiotics

Green tea against cancer, aging, inflammation, diabetes, swollen joints, healing ulcers (myoma, endometriosis), activates the brain - the tricks with the intake: between meals - no hard water - minerals are bound + then the green tea has hardly any effect:
When is the best time for green tea?
(orig. German: Wann ist die beste Zeit für Grüntee?)
https://www.zentrum-der-gesundheit.de/ernaehrung/lebensmittel/tee-uebersicht/gruentee-wirkung [web02]

Summary:

-- Forms of intake are: Green tea or green tea extract in capsules.

Healing effects of green tea
-- the catechin active ingredient epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the best known active ingredient:
-- highly antioxidant [anti-cancer, anti-aging].
-- anti-inflammatory
-- cancer blocking
-- blood sugar regulating
-- cholesterol lowering
-- reducing joint swellings (with arthritis)
-- healing ulcers: shrinks myoms and endometriosis
-- activates the memory: EGCG stimulates the formation of new nerve cells in the brain

Prepared lukewarm=low caffeine content - prepared hot=high caffeine content
-- a lot of green tea can provoke sleep problems because of caffeine, normal caffeine content is 18mg per 150ml, you can buy green tea with reduced caffeine content (5,5mg per 150ml)
-- Green tea brewed lukewarm reduces the caffeine content in the tea, the hotter brewed, the more caffeine is released from the leaves.

The tricks of taking green tea and green tea extract capsules
Studies have found:
-- the best intake of green tea extract capsules with EGCG is with water without a meal, EGCG extract content is 2.7x higher than when taken with a light breakfast and 3.9x higher than when taken with a strawberry sorbet (strawberry ice cream).
-- So the intake should be done on an empty stomach (1.5 to 2 hours after the last meal) and wait 30 minutes until the next meal
-- Green tea taken with meals also inhibits the absorption of minerals from food because EGCG binds and excretes minor minerals
-- Green tea taken with food inhibits e.g. the absorption of iron and provokes iron deficiency, because EGCG binds the iron molecules and then both are excreted
-- Green tea against diabetes is best drunk in the afternoon around 5 pm after dinner (postprandial)
-- EGCG can also detoxify, because it also binds copper, chromium, cadmium, but you have to counteract with positive mineral supplements at intervals.
-- Green tea binds calcium, magnesium, so calcium and magnesium supplements must be taken with water and not with green tea.

Factor hard water
-- Green tea capsules prepared with hard water: The EGCG binds the calcium (lime) in the water, so the EGCG has little health effect, so green tea capsules must be taken with soft water

Factors milk, calcium drinks
-- do not take EGCG capsules with milk, do not take with drinks containing calcium

Vitamin C and omega-3
-- Vitamin C and omega-3 fatty acids increase the bioavailability of EGCG, so green tea with lemon juice works well

The website of A.Vogel about green tea:
How healthy is green tea? What makes green tea so healthy?
(orig. German: Wie gesund ist Grüntee? Was macht grünen Tee so gesund?)
https://www.avogel.ch/de/ihre-ernaehrung/tee/was-macht-gruentee-so-gesund.php [web03]

Summary:

History
-- the tea plant in Latin is called "Camelia sinensis", with these leaves a green tea is produced, steaming and not fermenting the leaf produces the green tea, so the bitter substances and healing ingredients remain in the green tea leaf: catechins and amino acids
-- Green tea has a great tradition in Asia as a "popular beverage" in Tibet, China, India, Japan, etc.
-- in China it's called Chá, in India Chaj, in Japan Cha
-- drinking tea is part of Zen ceremonies
-- the colonialists from Portugal, Holland and England brought the black tea from Asia, where it was called "Cha" or "Tay" in Portugal, Holland and England for a long time, until the word "Tea" ("Tee") was created
-- all other herbal infusions are since then also considered as "tea" or "herbal tea
-- colonialists expanded tea growing areas to Indonesia, Russia, Asia Minor, Africa, and South "America"

Variations with fermentation
first comes green tea with the variations of white tea -- the yellow tea -- then the oolong tea -- then the pu-erh tea -- and finally the black tea

Ingredients
-- Green tea has a complex mixture of ingredients: The main part consists of "proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates, and minerals and trace elements such as calcium, magnesium, chromium, manganese and iron"

Proteins: 15-20% v. dry weight)
Carbohydrates: 5-7%
Minerals and trace elements: 5%
Amino acids: 1-4%
-- traces of lipids
-- traces of vitamins
-- Alkaloids (caffeine, etc.)
-- Polyphenols (up to 1/3 of dry weight): "flavanols, flavonoids and phenolic acids. The main components of flavonoids are catechins, of which four types are found in green tea:
Epicatechin (EC, 2%)
Epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG, 2-3%)
Epigallocatechin (EGC, 10%)
Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG, 10-15%)"

Health effect
-- Natural medicine in China calls green tea "matcha".
-- Green tea has different effects depending on how it is prepared, and this is complicated, the content of catechins (e.g. EGCG) varies depending on how it is prepared
"In freshly brewed tea, at most half of the catechins from the leaves pass into the water, resulting in about 117 to 442 mg of EGCG per liter."

-- Lab measurements say: EGCG fights Alzheimer's, strengthens heart muscle cells, reduces cardiac arrhythmias, reduces MS with "the chronic inflammatory process in the central nervous system"
-- Surveys say: green tea taken regularly reduces risk of heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, obesity, stomach cancer, colon cancer, nerve troubles (nervous disorders)

Quote:

"From the research: It depends on the concentration

Scientists at ETH Zurich [Switzerland] and the University of Jena [Germany] have determined exactly what the antioxidant effect of catechins consists of. They made experiments with the nematode C. elegans. The experiment showed that the catechins ECG and EGCG initially increase oxidative stress in the short term. Only then are certain genes activated, which render the free oxygen radicals harmless.

This mechanism is already known from sports and fasting (not eating a long time). Here, too, oxidative stress initially increases until the body's own enzymes become active. However, this "training program", which functions independently of the immune system, cannot be extended at will. Anyone who takes high doses of catechins in the form of green tea extracts risks permanently damaging the mitochondria - even leading to cell death. In low doses or as a beverage, on the other hand, green tea can deliver its beneficial properties."

-- Green tea reduces Alzheimer's + improves brain and secondary memory with cognitive abilities. Citation:

"In laboratory experiments, the mentioned molecule EGCG revealed amazing properties: it can change and reduce the number of misfolded protein bundles that can lead to the well-known clumping in Alzheimer's disease and thus damage the nerve cells. No other molecule has these properties. However, epigallocatechin gallate is too unstable in its original form to be used as a medicament. Researchers are therefore working to modify the molecule accordingly.

Green tea can also support cognitive activities. Studies show that drinking matcha can result in slight improvements in the speed of perception and in episodic, secondary memory in healthy individuals. Researchers at the University of Basel also conclude that cognitive abilities improve when a green tea extract is drunk before. The effect is based on the improvement of effective connectivity, that is, the influence that a certain brain area exerts on another. This in turn led to an increase in thinking performance: the test subjects achieved significantly better test results after taking the extract with up to 27.5 grams of tea per 500 ml, especially working memory improved. As a limitation, the very small test subject number of twelve participants must be mentioned here."

-- Green Tea Reduces Dementia. Quote:

"Other studies from Asia indicate links between frequency of green tea drinking and reduced risk of dementia. According to a Japanese study of elderly people 65 and older, drinking five cups of green tea a day is associated with a 27 percent lower likelihood of dementia. However, the study does not answer whether there are also general conditions better with green tea drinkers and if the conditions are different from country to country."

-- Green tea reduces cancer. Quote:

"Due to its antioxidant catechins, green tea is often said to have a cancer-protective effect. Evidence suggests that EGCG and ECG in particular can deactivate free radicals, protecting cells from damage to DNA. Observational studies suggest that high green tea intake is associated with a reduced risk of ovarian, breast, prostate, lung, and colorectal cancers, as well as a delay in the onset of new cancers. According to a study from Japan, ten cups a day delayed the onset of cancer by almost eight years in women and by more than three years in men. However, the study was ultimately unable to rule out whether other factors, such as a generally healthier lifestyle, had an influence on the appearance of cancer.

It's also possible to take higher dosages which are not reached by normal tea drinking, and these high dosages show success. Daily intake of green tea extract pills addionally to 10 cups of green tea are reducing the risk of polyps in theintestine. This was the result of a study from 2008.

A meta-analysis by the Cochrane Association in 2009 concluded that the results to date are insufficient and also contradictory with regard to tea drinking alone as a preventive measure. However, the effectiveness of the antioxidants contained in green tea have been proven.

There is also evidence that drinking green tea itself may have a protective effect with regard to the development of certain types of cancer. However, clinical studies are missing that could say clearly that this would work without additional movement and nutritions measures. Moreover, most of the research on this topic comes from Asia, where tea drinking has traditionally been a much greater priority than in Europe, which could fake the results."

-- Green tea reduces aging: "Vascular protection.

A long-term study from Japan concluded that five cups of green tea per day was associated with a 16 percent lower mortality rate. When it came specifically to cardiovascular diseases resulting in death, the risk was even 26 percent lower. Women also benefited the most, with their probability of dying from a heart attack falling by as much as 31 percent. But here, too, a generally healthier lifestyle of tea drinkers could be partly responsible for the effects. It is important, however, that green tea is never taken together with milk because the caseins from milk is blocking the effects of the catechins."

-- Green tea for weight loss: Quote:

"According to a study of Cochrane Association in 2012, there is a statistically non-significant connection between drinking green tea and weight loss. However, according to a study from Taiwan from 2016, a 12-week treatment with high-dose green tea extract (856.8 mg/day) in 115 women reportedly resulted in significant reductions in weight, abdominal circumference, and a decrease in LDL cholesterol. No side effects occurred."

-- Caffeine content in green tea: total mess. Quote:

"Although green tea leaves contain about five times more caffeine than coffee beans, green tea can be deluted so it contains less of the alkaloid than coffee. The longer the tea is infusing, the more tannins are released and the more caffeine is bound. In addition, one liter of coffee requires more coffee beans (about 50 grams) than tea leaves (about 13 grams) for the tea. This means that coffee contains double to triple the amount of caffeine. The caffeine in tea is also released more slowly than in coffee, but also lasts longer. Capsules with green tea extracts, however, come to more caffeine and can lead to sleep disturbances and cardiac arrhythmias.

Tea type/caffeine content per 236 ml

Black tea: 64 to 112 mg
Oolong tea: 29 to 53 mg
Green tea: 32 to 37 mg
White tea: 24 to 39 mg

In addition to the choice of tea variety, there are sometimes complicated relationships between the more or less stimulating effect of the tea, which is significantly altered by the growth stage of the leaf, the time of infusing and, of course, the dosage. When infusing for a short time, the green tea contains more caffeine, which is no longer bound to tannins and is absorbed very quickly when the tea is consumed. If infusing a longer, after about four to eight minutes, the tannins as well as the other active ingredients of the tea gradually dissolve. The tannins have the property of partially preventing and delaying the absorption of caffeine in the stomach and intestines. This longer infusion is much stronger in aroma, but the caffeine it contains has a weaker or delayed effect.

Sensitive people can therefore still be disturbed in their sleep by an overdosed "Afternoon Tea" even late at night. For sure, a long tea brewed for four to eight minutes can never have a calming effect, because the tea leaf simply does not contain any calming substances and such substances cannot be produced even if left to brew for a longer period of time.

The amount of caffeine can be reduced by pouring a small amount of boiling water over the amount of tea herb intended for brewing and straining it after half a minute. After this process, the tea is poured as usual. By rather weak dosage of the tea herb (max. one level teaspoon per large cup) and longer infusing (six to eight minutes) - of course without adding sugar or artificial sweeteners - we obtain the most digestible tea. The tea prepared only by short infusing time is thus "milder" in aroma."

-- Green tea interactions: Quote:

"As with all bioactive substances, polyphenols can also interact with medications. In larger quantities (i.e. from 50 cups per day) EGCG even has a damaging effect on the liver, kidneys and intestines. In addition, the tannins form solid compounds with plant iron, which can lead to the iron from plants (in contrast to iron from animal sources) not being absorbed as well, especially in vegans, patients with anemia or people with existing iron deficiency. Green tea should therefore be drunk between meals - or the leaves should be consumed at the same time, because they contain a relatively large amount of iron. In addition, the tannins can inhibit the absorption of drugs, such as antidepressants, antihypertensives, or even cancer drugs.

The German Cancer Information Service also warns against exaggerated expectations. This is because green tea can also lead to interactions with cancer drugs such as Sunitinib. The results of the research are contradictory also here, persons with cancer should coordinate the green tea intake with their medical doctor. EGCG, as an antioxidant, could "weaken the effects of chemotherapy or radiation therapy if consumed in excess," because "the effects of these drugs rely in part on reactive oxygen radicals damaging cancer cells," which could be counterproductive if consumed in large amounts."

[Well, pharma has a healing quote of cancer of only 2% for 5 years - take natural medicine against cancer, green tea is one element of it].

Products with green tea in it:
Products with green tea: capsules, biscuits and lotions
https://www.grüntee.de/produkte.htm [web04]

Green tea in food:
-- vegetable juices, fruit juices
-- green tea can be added to bread, cakes, biscuits, even just because of the green color

Green tea biscuits [7] - Green tea pralines [8] - Green tea ice cream [9] - Green tea cake [10]

-- Green tea in tablets, capsules, powder

Green tea in care products: protective function for the skin:
-- green tea in washing lotions, soaps, face creams, body lotions and cosmetics, in shampoos, in conditioners
-- with green tea extracts or with pure ingredients

Green tea shampoo [12] - green tea soap [13]

Green tea in care products: Oral cavity + dental care:
-- Green tea toothpaste
-- Green tea chewing gum
-- Green tea is also a mouthwash for teeth and against bad breath, first in Japan, now all over the world

Toothpaste with green tea in it "BioDent" [11]

[11] Quote: The toothpaste "Biodent basic contains an active ingredient combination of myrrh, sage, clove, green tea and olive leaf extract, which contributes to the health of the oral flora."

[For the gum, eat half an apple per day].