You should always consult your physician for personalized medical advice. Never disregard or delay seeking professional medical advice or treatment solely because of something you read online.
Tea is not a medicine and should not replace medical treatments issued by your doctor. That being said, we found compelling evidence green tea has major health benefits for fighting illness and for maintaining health.
Drinking or gargling green tea may protect against flu and cold viruses.
Researchers in Japan state that, “Since the late 1990s, several epidemiological studies have suggested that the regular consumption of green tea decreases influenza infection rates and some cold symptoms, and that gargling with tea catechin may protect against the development of influenza infection.”
Tea catechins, phytochemicals contained mainly in green tea, may work in three ways to slow or prevent infection:
- They may inhibit attachment of the virus to the host cell.
- They may prevent the virus from replicating.
- They may inhibit neuraminidase (NA), a protein that mediates the enzymatic cleavage of the viral receptor to release the progeny viruses.
Tea catechins may also prevent acute upper respiratory infections.
In this experiment, Japanese researchers gave two hundred and seventy healthcare workers different doses of catechins-containing beverages, from a high dose to a placebo for twelve weeks. The upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) incidence rate was 26.7% in the placebo group and 13.1% in the high-catechin group. “These findings suggest that catechins combined with xanthan gum protect against URTIs.”
Green tea catechins may treat and prevent infectious diseases.
A 2018 article on the Hindawi BioMed Research International website discusses how the catechins in green tea demonstrate antimicrobial properties. ECGC, a negatively-charged green tea catechin (GTC) can bind to and damage positively-charged bacterial cell membranes. GTCs can also inhibit bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis, preventing bacteria from making energy.
The article states, “Green tea catechins have also been shown to be effective against a number of viruses, parasites, fungi, and even prions. The main antiviral effects include inhibiting the virus from binding to and entering host cells (adenovirus, enterovirus, HBV, HCV, HIV, HSV, influenza, and rotavirus); inhibiting viral RNA and DNA synthesis and viral gene transcription (enterovirus, EBV, HBV, HCV, and HIV); and destroying and functionally altering various viral molecules (adenovirus, HSV, and influenza).”
While more research needs to be done, incorporating green tea into your healthy lifestyle may provide some serious health benefits. We have lots of traditional green teas, as well as fun green tea blends to suit your tastes.
As always, we’re happy to answer any questions you may have at listening@theteasmith.com.
