Green Tea
Why green tea is anti-inflammatory
Green tea is anti-inflammatory, and the reason is a family of plant compounds called catechins. The leaves are steamed or pan-fired within hours of picking, which stops them browning the way black tea leaves do and keeps most of the catechins intact.
Green tea has been tested both as a supplement and as a drink, and the results are not the same. In the supplement trials, adults improved their body’s own defences against cell damage, but the inflammation markers in their blood barely moved. In people with type 2 diabetes, who start with more inflammation, drinking green tea brought the main marker down. Green tea does the most when there is inflammation to bring down.
The extract sold for weight loss is not the drink in another form. It concentrates the catechins into doses far above a cup, and high doses have been linked to liver damage. Bottled iced teas are worth checking too: many are closer to a soft drink, with a little tea and several spoonfuls of sugar.
Two to three cups a day is the range most of the research uses, and each cup is usually a sweetened drink you did not have instead. Tea also contains tannins, compounds that bind iron in the gut and stop some of it being absorbed. If your iron runs low, leave an hour between your tea and your meals.
Green Tea on the AIP diet
Green tea is allowed on the Autoimmune Protocol, elimination phase included. AIP cuts coffee because the coffee bean is a seed, but tea comes from a leaf, so it stays alongside herbal teas. The usual advice is to keep it moderate and drink it early in the day, since the caffeine can add to the sleep problems many people with autoimmune conditions already have.
Benefits
- One of the richest everyday sources of catechins, the antioxidants that survive because the leaves never brown
- Strengthened the body's own antioxidant defences across 38 pooled trials in adults
- Brought down the main inflammation marker
- No sugar and no calories: every cup replaces a drink that would work against you
Watch out for
- In people already healthy, trials show no change; the effect turns up when inflammation is high
- Green tea extract is not the drink, and high doses have been linked to liver damage
- The tannins block iron absorption, so keep it away from meals if your iron runs low
- Still caffeinated, at roughly a third of a coffee per cup
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Frequently asked
Is green tea inflammatory?
No. It is one of the most concentrated everyday sources of catechins, the plant antioxidants tea is known for, and in people with raised inflammation it has been shown to bring the main blood marker down. What makes a green tea inflammatory is what gets added to it: many bottled versions are closer to a soft drink than to tea.
How many cups a day?
Two to three is where most of the research sits. There is no need to push past that. More cups mostly means more caffeine, and lost sleep works against you.
Is matcha better than regular green tea?
Matcha is the whole leaf ground to powder, so you swallow it instead of steeping it and throwing the leaves away. That means more catechins per cup. Brewed green tea is not far behind and costs a fraction of the price.
Is green tea allowed on the AIP diet?
Yes, in every phase. AIP removes seeds, which is why coffee goes, but tea comes from a leaf. Keep it moderate and early in the day if caffeine affects your sleep.
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