Green Tea has become one of the new age food heroes — a helpful ally in preventing everything from heart disease and cancer to skin aging and weight gain. The full range of heath benefits may take decades to define, but research on its impact on human skin is reasonably well developed. The secret ingredients are chemicals called catechins, which are antioxidants that can clear cell damage on the skin and repair wrinkles, blemishes or other impurities. (6) When applied to the skin, green tea can reduce sun damage by reducing inflammation and tackling free radicals. (7) (It doesn’t block UV rays.) When choosing a tea, its helpful to know that green tea has over five times the amount of catechins as black tea. (8)