Antioxidant properties
For some years now there has been a lot of talk about green tea-based products, cleverly offered to consumers as real beauty elixirs, antidotes against aging and so on and so forth. The much vaunted health effects of tea green are linked, for a change, to its precious content in antioxidants, which as everyone knows by now, helps the body to defend itself from free radicals (reactive molecules involved in cell damage).
In particular, the antioxidant potential of the drink is associated with the high content of catechins, which in green tea represent about 20-40% of the dry weight. Among these substances the most abundant is called (-) - epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and it is particularly known for having demonstrated strong antioxidant and antimutagenic properties. Thanks to these characteristics, EGCG inhibits the growth and proliferation of cancer cells; it also reduces the levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, thus exerting a "protective action against cardiovascular diseases.
Apart from epigallocatechin, the mixture of the various substances present in green tea has shown an "antioxidant action superior to the individual components, confirming the now accepted thesis according to which dietary phytocomplexes are much more active than the single isolated and purified components."
In a world where the success of a certain food or dietary supplement is increasingly linked to its real or presumed anti-aging, anti-degenerative and anti-carcinogenic capabilities, the antioxidant virtues of green tea certainly could not go unnoticed. The Food And Drug Administration has been cautious in this regard, due to conflicting results between the various studies. If on the one hand, as the American institution has rightly done, we must take note of the research that disproves many of the alleged virtues of green tea, on the other we cannot ignore the ever-increasing number of studies that punctually exalt them.
Slimming properties
Another interesting property ascribed to green tea is slimming; this time the chemicals involved are methylxanthines (caffeine, theobromine, theophylline) and there is no doubt about their effective ability to stimulate lipolysis.
By promoting the mobilization of localized fats in adipose tissue and their oxidation for energy purposes, methylxanthines promote weight loss. The same substances are also capable of increasing metabolism; they also have a mild diuretic effect (useful for fighting water retention) and anorexizant (suppress hunger). The concentrations of methylxanthines present in green tea are however limited and completely insufficient to make the aforementioned properties appreciable (more than half a liter is needed to obtain the caffeine equivalent of a cup of coffee).
Green tea extracts in cosmetics
Green tea or black tea?
In addition to the variety and cultural differences, the various types of tea are classified according to the processing process to which they are subjected. In particular, while in the preparation of black tea fermentation is essential to obtain the desired aroma, green tea is obtained from young and fresh leaves, treated in such a way as to inhibit fermentation processes.
Compared to black tea, green tea is poorer in caffeine (about 50% less), but has more antioxidant properties.
In conclusion: even if in a cup of green tea we do not find anything miraculous, it is still a drink with numerous appreciable characteristics, which can therefore easily be part of everyday eating habits. However, the recommendation remains to set one's diet on the consumption of a "wide variety of foods: regularly drinking green tea is therefore important, as long as you do not forget all the other precious antioxidant foods that nature offers us (citrus fruits, berries, tomatoes and in general all fresh fruit and vegetables).
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