Beneficial Effects of Green Tea: A Literature Review
Beneficial Effects of Green Tea: A Literature Review
Beneficial Effects of Green Tea: A Literature Review
REVIEW
Open Access
Abstract
The health benefits of green tea for a wide variety of ailments, including different types of cancer, heart disease,
and liver disease, were reported. Many of these beneficial effects of green tea are related to its catechin, particularly (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, content. There is evidence from in vitro and animal studies on the underlying
mechanisms of green tea catechins and their biological actions. There are also human studies on using green tea
catechins to treat metabolic syndrome, such as obesity, type II diabetes, and cardiovascular risk factors.
Long-term consumption of tea catechins could be beneficial against high-fat diet-induced obesity and type II diabetes and could reduce the risk of coronary disease. Further research that conforms to international standards
should be performed to monitor the pharmacological and clinical effects of green tea and to elucidate its mechanisms of action.
Background
In recent years, the health benefits [1] of consuming
green tea, including the prevention of cancer [2] and
cardiovascular diseases [3], the anti-inflammatory [4],
antiarthritic [5], antibacterial [6], antiangiogenic [7],
antioxidative [8], antiviral [9], neuroprotective [10], and
cholesterol-lowering effects [11] of green tea and isolated green tea constituents are under investigation.
However, adding green tea to the diet may cause other
serious health concerns.
The health-promoting effects of green tea are mainly
attributed to its polyphenol content [12], particularly flavanols and flavonols, which represent 30% of fresh leaf
dry weight [1]. Recently, many of the aforementioned
beneficial effects of green tea were attributed to its most
abundant catechin, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG)
[13-15]. Green tea extracts are more stable than pure
epigallocatechin gallate, one of the major constituents of
green tea, because of the presence of other antioxidant
constituents in the extract [8]. In general, herbal medicines are complex mixtures of different compounds that
often act in a synergistic fashion to exert their full beneficial effect [11]. However, relatively few herbal medicines have been well characterized and their efficacy
demonstrated in systematic clinical trials as compared
to Western drugs. This review article highlights the
recent research on the efficacy, action mechanisms, and
* Correspondence: leosabu@rediffmail.com
1
NPO International Laboratory of Biochemistry, 1-166 Uchide, Nakagawa-ku,
Nagoya, 454-0926, Japan
2010 Chacko et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The chemical composition of green tea is complex: proteins (15-20% dry weight), whose enzymes constitute an
important fraction; amino acids (1-4% dry weight) such
as theanine or 5-N-ethylglutamine, glutamic acid, tryptophan, glycine, serine, aspartic acid, tyrosine, valine,
leucine, threonine, arginine, and lysine; carbohydrates
(5-7% dry weight) such as cellulose, pectins, glucose,
fructose, and sucrose; minerals and trace elements (5%
dry weight) such as calcium, magnesium, chromium,
manganese, iron, copper, zinc, molybdenum, selenium,
sodium, phosphorus, cobalt, strontium, nickel, potassium, fluorine, and aluminum; and trace amounts of
lipids (linoleic and a-linolenic acids), sterols (stigmasterol), vitamins (B, C, E), xanthic bases (caffeine,
theophylline), pigments (chlorophyll, carotenoids), and
volatile compounds (aldehydes, alcohols, esters, lactones,
hydrocarbons). Due to the great importance of the
mineral presence in tea, many studies have determined
their levels in tea leaves and their infusions (Table 1)
[21]. Fresh leaves contain, on average, 3-4% of alkaloids
known as methylxanthines, such as caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline [22]. In addition, there are
phenolic acids such as gallic acids and characteristic
amino acid such as theanine present [22].
Green tea contains polyphenols, which include flavanols, flavandiols, flavonoids, and phenolic acids; these
compounds may account for up to 30% of the dry
weight. Most of the green tea polyphenols (GTPs) are
flavonols, commonly known as catechins. Products
derived from green tea are mainly extracts of green tea
in liquid or powder form that vary in the proportion of
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Green Tea*
Black tea*
Protein
15
15
Infusion*
trace
Amino acids
3.5
Fiber
Others carbohydrates
26
7
26
7
0
4
Lipids
trace
Pigments
trace
Minerals
4.5
Phenolic compounds
30
4.5
25
4.5
Especially flavonoids
colon, esophagus, mouth, stomach, small intestine, kidney, pancreas, and mammary glands [33]. Several epidemiological studies and clinical trials showed that green
tea (and black and Oolong teas to a lesser extent) may
reduce the risk of many chronic diseases [34]. This beneficial effect has been attributed to the presence of high
amounts of polyphenols, which are potent antioxidants.
In particular, green tea may lower blood pressure and
thus reduce the risk of stroke and coronary heart disease. Some animals studies suggested that green tea
might protect against the development of coronary heart
disease by reducing blood glucose levels and body
weight [35]. However, all these data are based on middle-aged animals populations, not the elderly populations, which nutritional status tends to be more
adversely influenced by age-related biological and socioeconomic factors [36].
Tea components possess antioxidant, antimutagenic,
and anticarcinogenic effects and could protect humans
against the risk of cancer by environmental agents [37].
Sano et al. [38] reported the inhibitory effects of green
tea leaves against tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced lipid
peroxidation, and a similar antioxidant effect on the kidney was observed after oral administration of the major
tea polyphenol EGCG. The antioxidative potency of
crude catechin powder and individual catechins was
tested in experiments using the active oxygen method.
Crude catechins reduced the formation of peroxides far
more effectively than dl-a-tocopherol [39]. Shim et al.
[40] studied the chemopreventive effect of green tea
among cigarette smokers and found that it can block
the cigarette-induced increase in sister chromatid
exchange frequency.
The effectiveness of green tea in treating any type of
diarrhea and typhoid has been known in Asia since
ancient times [41-43]. Green tea catechins have an inhibitory effect on Helicobacter pylori infection [44,45].
Effects of green tea against the influenza virus, especially
in its earliest stage, as well as against the Herpes simplex
virus have also been demonstrated [46-48]. Furthermore,
Weber et al. [9] observed that adenovirus infection is
inhibited in vitro by green tea catechins.
In humans, Hirasawa and Takada [49] studied the
antifungal activity of green tea catechins against Candida albicans and the convenience of a combined treatment with catechins and lower doses of antimycotics,
which may help to avoid the side effects of antimycotics.
Green tea consumption has also been associated with
increased bone mineral density, and it has been identified as an independent factor protecting against the risk
of hip fractures; this effect was considered independent
of smoking status, hormone replacement therapy, coffee
drinking, and the addition of milk to tea [50]. Park et al.
[51] observed the positive effects of green tea extracts
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Long-term ingestion of green tea increases UDP-glucuronosyl transferase activity in rats [66,70,71], and after
being absorbed, catechins are metabolized by drugmetabolizing enzymes in various organs [72,73]. Thus,
the increased glucuronidation through UDP-glucuronosyl transferase induction is postulated to contribute to
the anticarcinogenic effect of green tea by facilitating
the metabolism of chemical carcinogens into inactive
products that are readily excreted. The interaction
between 2-amino-3-methylimidazol (4,5-f)quinoline (IQ)
and green tea catechin metabolism was examined [74].
IQ is a precarcinogen that was originally detected in an
extract of fried meat. The major route of IQ biotransformation in rats is cytochrome P450 in the first step, followed by conjugation to a sulfate and a glucuronide
conjugate. Green tea modifies IQ metabolism in rats,
increasing the formation of IQ glucuronides, which are
then excreted in the urine. Moreover, protection against
cancers induced by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by
green tea catechins may be due to the inhibition of their
cytochrome P450 metabolism, but the effect of green
tea on cytochrome P450 enzymes depends on the particular form. The long-term consumption of green tea
increases cytochrome P450 1A1 and 1A2 activities, but
not 2B1 and 2E1 activities, in normal rats. However, it
is difficult to draw conclusions about a beneficial effect
of green tea against carcinogens involving only modulation of this metabolic pathway.
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Effect on obesity
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Conclusions
Laboratory studies showed the health effects of green
tea. As the human clinical evidence is still limited,
future research needs to define the actual magnitude
of health benefits, establishes the safe range of tea consumption associated with these benefits, and elucidates
the mechanisms of action. Development of more specific and sensitive methods with more representative
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