Tea has been cultivated for centuries and remains one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. Sipping a cup of green tea can offer much more than refreshment: the positive health benefits are impressive and well-documented. The delicate leaves of green tea are packed with cell-protecting polyphenol phytochemicals called catechins that have significant medicinal and antioxidant properties. They have been shown to protect against heart disease, cancer, cell damage from oxidative stress as well as promote brain health.
Anti-Cancer Effects
Eipgallocatechin gallate, or EGCG, is a potent polyphenol catechin in green tea that has been the most extensively studied and shown to have the greatest anti-cancer effects. In addition to helping prevent cancer, studies have shown that EGCG also inhibits cancer cell growth by preventing one cancer cell from splitting into two cells and inhibiting the mechanism that spreads cancers cells. It also repairs the UVB-induced DNA damage in skin cancer.
EGCG and Your Heart
EGCG also has the highest number of anti-oxidant properties with beneficial effects on the prevention of cardiovascular disease. These protective benefits for heart disease come from the plant compound's ability to improve blood flow, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and protect against the oxidation of LDL particles that can lead to atherosclerosis. A study of 40,530 people in Japan, where green tea is most widely consumed, found that drinking green tea lowered the risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease by 31 percent in women and 22 percent in men.