The Green Tea Reference Library
We are living in an era of information explosion. Recognizing that there may be a positive relationship between sound dietary practice and good health in view of the rapidly accumulating data published in scientific journals, the US Congress passed the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) with the intent to meet the concerns of consumers and manufacturers.
The number of scientific publications on green tea research has increased exponentially. At the time of this writing,
Entrez PubMed, the official Internet web site operated by the
National Library of Medicine listed more than 1,770 scientific publications
when the words “green tea” were used for search. Most of the
articles were published in the past 10 years with a disproportionately
large percentage devoted to cancer prevention. This is in part because
there are no non-toxic drugs for cancer controls and green tea seems to be
a promising conventional food useful for cancer risk reduction. But there
are publications to suggest that green tea may be also useful in enhancing
the anticancer effects of conventional chemotherapeutics (chemo), even
synergistically with the less toxic antineoplastic drugs of the quinolone
family, and in controlling Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease,
obesity, blood thrombosis, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, inflammatory
disorders, viral infections, liver damage, sun light skin damage, and
antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. As a COX-2 inhibitor, green tea
may provide some of the benefits that Vioxx and Celebrex had offered to
patients without their toxicities. We have selected the publications
deemed most relevant and grouped them under sections A-R for the
visitors to read. Recently, a few cases of liver damage after using green
tea extracts for weight reduction have been reported. The report is
included in the end under group Q. An abstract of the
scientific report is provided under each title for the reader’s
convenience. The readers
may obtain the full-text articles from the publishers via the link at
Entrez PubMed. In addition, three special brochures are listed
under group S.
These educational materials are organized according to
the following categories. Follow the links to the publication
abstracts.
| A | Epidemiological and clinical studies on the relationship between cancer risk and the consumption of green tea, its dose and its source (32 publications) |
| B | General comments by medical and scientific authorities on green tea, and the “typical green tea” as a chemopreventive beverage in cancer risk reduction (49 publications) |
| C | Scientific information on anticancer effects of green tea and the EGCG level of the green tea used in cancer research (37 publications) |
| D | Green tea or its components may enhance anticancer effects of drugs and prolong cancer patient survival (12 publications) |
| E | Neuroprotection of green tea against Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson's disease (12 publications) |
| F | Green tea on fat metabolism and obesity (8 publications) |
| G | Green tea is anti-thrombotic and may help blood circulation (11 publications) |
| H | Green tea on blood sugar levels through modulation on insulin activities (5 publications) |
| I | Green tea is a COX-2 inhibitor and anti-inflammatory; it modulates normal immune system (12 publications) |
| J | Antiviral effects of green tea (13 publications) |
| K | Liver protection of green tea against hepatitis and other injuries (3 publications) |
| L | Green tea protection of skin from UV light damage and aging (5 publications) |
| M | Green tea enhances the antimicrobial effects of antibiotics, especially that against methicillin-resistant strains of staphylococcus aureus, MRSA (11 publications) |
| N | Most green teas on the market are low in EGCG, about 2% and up to 4 % in dry weight as reported in the U.K. (3) and there is loss of EGCG when heated in the presence of oxygen (1) (3 publications) |
| O | pH and metal ions on the antioxidative activity of green tea (1 publication) |
| P | Pesticide residues in commercial green teas (2 publications) |
| Q | Natural green tea drink is safe; avoid too much green tea extract (3 publications) |
| R | Overdose fluoride intake may occur in low-quality black tea drinkers, not in green tea consumers (7 publications) |
| S | Additional educational
materials – Three brochures: Re-introducing Tea to the West - This Time to Fight Cancer The Truth In Tea
Green Tea with Prednisone or
Quinolone Induction for the Treatment of Canine Lymphoma |