Green Tea Extract: What You Need To Know, Benefits, Recommendations, and Supplement Options

Green tea contains catechins, a group of polyphenols largely found in tea, cocoa, and berries. These compounds serve as antioxidants along with other nutrients like Vitamin A (beta-carotene), Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Selenium.

Why Antioxidants are Important

When there is an imbalance between pro-oxidants and antioxidants, oxidative stress results in free radical damage.  This damage is considered to be an underlying cause of many chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. 

Green Tea in Viral Illnesses

Studies have shown that people consuming more green tea or green tea capsules have lower incidence of influenza, so it has been theorized that these antiviral properties will also work to protect us from other viral illnesses.

While EGCg has been studied most extensively, the whole range of catechins are available from tea in beverage form. EGCg may be only one of the catechin compounds that are producing health benefits of green tea. So, if you like tea, enjoy!

How much Green Tea is enough?

Researchers studying weight, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes found benefits in people consuming the recommended 3 to 4 cups (8oz) of green tea per day to supply 600-900 mg of catechins per day. 

Green Tea Supplement Options

When catechins are consumed in supplement forms, they are thought to be more bioavailable than in tea beverages, so don’t consume more than the daily dose of 200 mg EGCg in the form of a supplement.

Read More about Green Tea/ EGCg

Read more about related health benefits and food sources for EGCg in an article by registered dietitian, Ainsley Hill. Professionals may want to refer to this article by Carrie Dennett, MPH, RDN, CD.