What Is Green Tea Extract ?

All teas (green, black, and oolong) are derived from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. The difference is in how the plucked leaves are prepared. Green tea, unlike black and oolong tea, is not fermented, so the active constituents remain unaltered in the herb. The leaves of the tea plant are used both as a social and a medicinal beverage.

Green tea contains volatile oils, vitamins, minerals, and caffeine, but the primary constituents of interest are the polyphenols, particularly the catechin called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). The polyphenols are believed to be responsible for most of green tea’s roles in promoting good health.

What Is Green Tea Extract Used For?

Green tea may help to maintain normal appetite control, normal fat digestion, normal metabolism and normal cholesterol levels.

Key Benefits?

Super high strength capsules
May help to maintain Cardiovascular Health
May increase antioxidant activity in the blood, decreasing harmful free radicals which can attack body cells.
May help to maintain a healthy immune system.
May help to support a healthy liver.

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Green Tea Extract FAQs

What Is Green Tea Extract?

Green tea extract is a product made from green tea. First the green tea is distilled into a concentrated solution; then that solution is dried into a powder.

Green tea is an infusion made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis bush. Green tea differs from black tea, white tea and oolong tea in the way it’s processed. Green tea leaves are harvested three times a year; the leaves from the spring harvest yield the highest quality green tea. After the leaves are picked, they are laid out to dry under direct sunlight between 8 and 24 hours. The leaves are then steamed, to neutralize enzymes that would other wise cause oxidation and fermentation.

Green tea and green tea extract contain high levels of antioxidants. Clinical studies suggest that green tea extract can lower blood pressure, improve cognitive function and benefit the treatment of various types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

The History of Green Tea

The earliest written reference to green tea dates back to 2737 BC when it was one of many herbs whose healing properties were discovered by the mythological emperor Shennong. But green tea did not become widely available in China until the 14th century AD.

Black tea was far more popular in Europe than green tea after Dutch traders first introduced tea as a beverage in the 16th century. Green tea was popular in the British colonies of North America however: The 45 tons of "bullet tea" dumped into the Boston harbor in what has come to be called the Boston Tea Party was a type of green tea.

How Is Green Tea Extract Prepared?

The ingredients in green tea most associated with its health benefits are polyphenols called catechins.
Catechins are distilled from a green tea infusion and then spray dried to create a powder. The distillation process can utilize an aqueous alcohol solution or water. The resulting powder is then packed into capsules.

The catechins may be processed further in more highly purified green tea extracts, through the use of techniques like column chromatography and membrane extraction and separation.

What Conditions Does Green Tea Extract Treat?

Both green tea and green tea extract have been the subject of extensive scientific investigation. Green tea’s most healthful chemicals are catechins. Green tea also contains alkaloids including caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline, responsible for green tea’s anti-asthmatic properties and stimulant effects.

Green tea extract has significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Scientific evidence suggests that green tea extract strengthens teeth and kills oral bacteria. Green tea extract is found in many toothpastes. Its antimicrobial properties are also utilized in commercial deodorants.

Green tea extract has been shown to have inhibitory effects on the growth of cancer cells in vitro. Many universities, clinics and research centers have performed experiments using green tea extract that suggest it improves the outcome for breast, ovarian, lung bladder, colorectal, esophageal, prostate, liver and pancreatic cancers.

Green tea’s antioxidant properties may help prevent atherosclerosis, particularly when associated with coronary artery disease. Green tea extract may also lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

Recent research from Oregon State University, published in the journal Immunology Letters, credits green tea with bolstering immune functions by increasing the number of regulatory T-cells. Green tea extract, then, may have an important role to play in the treatment of autoimmune conditions. Other research has found that green tea extract helped prolong the life of brain cells of mice induced with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Green tea extract may also boost the metabolism and help dieters lose weight.

Finally, green tea extracts have been used to help prevent spoilage in many commercial food products such as apple juice, pork, chicken, fish, food emulsions, and vegetable and fish oils.

What Forms Does Green Tea Extract Come In?

There is considerable variation in strength and effectiveness among different brands and preparations of green tea extract, with polyphenol concentrations ranging from 15 to 90 percent. The effective dosage will depend upon the polyphenol content: Taking a single 500 mg capsule of 90% polyphenols and 55% EGCG is the equivalent to drinking two cups of green tea.

Does Green Tea Have Side Effects?

Polyphenols have been shown to inhibit iron absorption so green tea extract should no be taken with meals.

The caffeine in green tea extract can cause side effects including tachycardia, hypertension, heart palpitations, arrhythmias and respiratory difficulties. For this reason, caffeine is often removed from green tea extract. However, there is some concern that the process that removes caffeine may also diminish the effectiveness of other active ingredients in green tea extract.