Why green tea fights inflammation

Green tea is widely considered a powerful anti-inflammatory, and the reason is a family of plant compounds called catechins. Green tea leaves are steamed or pan-fired within hours of picking. That stops them browning the way black tea leaves do, and it keeps far more of those compounds intact. Same plant, different handling. That is the whole difference between the two.

The research on green tea isn’t as clear-cut as its reputation, and that’s worth knowing. When scientists looked at several studies in adults, green tea did help the body’s own defences against cell damage. But it made almost no difference to the signs of inflammation that doctors measure in a blood test. Things look different, though, in people who already have a lot of inflammation. For example, in studies of people with type 2 diabetes, green tea lowered the main sign of inflammation. So green tea doesn’t work like a medicine. It works like what it is, a drink that helps most when there’s actually a problem to fix.

How you drink it decides a good part of the benefit. Two to three cups a day is the range most of the research uses, and it works hardest as a swap. Every cup of green tea is a soft drink or a sweetened coffee you did not have. Two things to watch. The concentrated extracts sold for weight loss are not the same thing as the drink, and high doses have been linked to liver damage. And the tannins in tea block iron absorption, so if your iron runs low, leave an hour between your tea and your meals.