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Green Tea Extract (Camellia sinensis) The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea for over 4,000 years. Today, scientific research in both Asia and the West are providing hard evidence for the health benefits of green tea such as protection against " out of control cell growth", lowering total cholesterol levels, and supporting the digestive system.
Green tea contains many polyphenolic antioxidants whose role in cancer prevention has been supported by numerous epidemiological studies. Research shows that the polyphenol EGCG (epigallocatechin-3- gallate) is among the most effective chemopreventive and apoptosis-inducing (capable of causing cell death) agents present in green tea. Recently published results of an 11-year population-based prospective study conducted by the National Cancer Center in Tokyo, Japan found an inverse association between green tea consumption and distal gastric cancer among women—those in the highest category of green tea consumption had the lowest relative risk of cancer. Another recent Japanese study found that green tea consumption was associated with a lower incidence of coronary artery disease—the more green tea patients consumed, the less likely they were to have coronary artery disease, which is the most common type of heart disease and the leading cause of death in the United States in both men and women
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