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It seems like every few weeks there's some new food, drink, berry or vegetable being touted as the best source of antioxidants, with the requisite long list of health benefits. Given the commercial hype and avalanche of products that routinely accompany such "discoveries," I tune most of it out until I have a chance to research the latest super-food on my own.

The buzz about green tea has been around for years now. Though I knew and approved of its powerful antioxidant flavonoid, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), I never really paid much attention to this super-drink (largely because my body can't stand caffeine). However, when I recently read about some impressive benefits that seemed to outrank most other diet superstars, I decided to take a second glance...

The original article can be found at: http://www.medicalpost.com/therapeutics/nutrition/article.jsp?content=20080805_001942_6528

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what we said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

The lack of specific information in this article renders it less useful for anyone wishing to act on the presented recommendations. The article seems to add a lot of hype to the story of green tea without much substance or solid evidence.

As the use of green tea would likely fall under the domain of "self-care" (i.e. without guidance of a practitioner), it would have been great to include suggestions regarding an appropriate dose. The failure to include information on potential side effects or drug/product interactions is another significant gap in this report. These types of gaps contributes to the popular belief that many herbal products are safe because they are "natural". A helpful suggestion to anyone considering using green tea, or any herbal product, is to consult a health care practitioner, whether it be a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, a naturopath, an herbalist or a medical doctor.

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