Antioxidant properties of tea

Currently, the aspect of tea of most interest to researchers is the antioxidant effect of tea plants polyphenol compounds. A growing body of research indicates that tea polyphenols have very potent antioxidant activities and the tea may have the potential to prevent certain cancers and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Oxidants and antioxidants: the human body is under constant assault by reactive oxygen molecules and free radicals, known as oxidants, which are produced as byproducts of normal metabolism. Oxidants can damage cells in many ways. Antioxidants work to neutralize these free radicals and to prevent cell damage that can contribute to aging and more than 50 degenerative diseases including cancer and heart disease.

Because oxidants are so damaging to cells, many cellular defense mechanisms to prevent against oxidization have developed. A variety of dietary antioxidants also exists, including; B-carotene, tocopherols and absorbic acid.

The role of antioxidants in cardiovascular disease and cancer: antioxidants have been examined for their ability to reduce risk factors — related to blood lipid levels and clot formation — associated with the development of heart disease. Newly emerging data now suggest that the intake of antioxidants may influence in individuals risk of developing heart disease. That is, those blood lipids which have previously undergone oxidization may be more likely to promote the development of atherosclerosis. Therefore, in addition of fat oxidization by dietary antioxidants may reduce the risk of developing atherosclerosis and ultimately heart disease. Evidence to date suggests that both green and black tea (due to their naturally high oxidization content) have the same biologic effects and new research is working to confirm this.

 Numerous oxidative processes associated with tissue damage occur in the body. This damage may lead to cancer development. Currently available data suggests that dietary intakes of antioxidants may help retard these oxidative processes. Results of animal experiments generally indicate that antioxidants to inhibit tumor formation. These results suggest that exposure to tea’s antioxidants would reduce the incidence of cancer in human population and, in fact, some epidemiological studies provide support for this. Preliminary evidence suggests that black people possessed the same anticancer characteristics previously observed with green tea.

Antioxidant activity of tea: in some studies where the potencies of antioxidants were compared, the antioxidant properties of green tea polyphenols were found to be superior to those of Zorba Gasset in some ways. Green and black tea extracts have shown to inhibit oxidization. However, the antioxidant activity varied with different tea processing methods and with different components.