A recently published study revealed how certain components of green tea can help achieve health and longevity.

According to a report by Futurity, people have known for a long time that green tea has many benefits, especially its catechins called ECG and EGCG, which are believed to extend lifespan.

The two substances are polyphenols and are considered antioxidants, which means that they can fight or prevent oxidative stress caused by aggressive free radicals of oxygen in the body.

So far, scientists have speculated that catechins are neutralizing these free radicals, thereby preventing damage to cells or DNA.

As research has pointed out, one source of oxygen free radicals is metabolism. For example, when the mitochondria, the cell's power plant, are struggling to produce energy.

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In the new study published by Aging, the researchers first proposed that these "polyphenols in green tea will increase oxidative stress in a short period of time" and have subsequent effects that enhance the defenses of organisms and cells.

Therefore, as described in News-Medical.net, catechins are found in green tea, and researchers fed them to nematodes, resulting in a longer lifespan, not to mention a better fit.

According to Michael Ristow, professor of energy metabolism in the Department of Health Science and Technology at ETH Zurich, this means that catechins or green tea polyphenols are not actually antioxidants, but pro-oxidants. It enhances the self-defense ability of the organism, just like vaccination.

However, the enhancement of this defense ability is not manifested by the immune system, but by activating genes that produce certain enzymes, such as catalase or CTL and superoxide dismutase or SOD.

It is the enzyme that disables the free radicals in the nematode. Specifically, they are important endogenous antioxidants.

Ristow is not surprised to see this tool at work. His team showed in 2009 that the reason why exercise promotes health is because physical activity increases oxidative stress in the short term, thereby improving the body's defense capabilities.

Consuming fewer calories has the same effect, as has been shown many times in animals. The study found that compared with mice fed a normal high-calorie diet, mice fed a low-calorie diet lived longer. Therefore, Risto explained that it makes sense that the catechins in green tea act in the same way.

He went on to say that the results of this study explain humans well. The basic biochemical processes of organisms that neutralize oxygen free radicals remain in evolutionary history and exist in everything from single-celled yeast to humans.

The metabolic energy professor said that he himself drinks green tea every day, which is a practice he strongly recommends to others. However, he advises against ingesting green tea extracts or concentrates.

Speaking of his suggestion, Risto said that at a certain concentration, green tea can become toxic. He added that high doses of catechins can block mitochondria to a certain extent, leading to cell death, which is particularly harmful to the liver.

Anyone's excessive intake of these polyphenols will endanger their groaning. Although most catechins are present in Japanese green tea varieties, other types of this tea also contain sufficient amounts of the polyphenols.

On the other hand, black tea has a much lower catechin content because it is mainly destroyed by a process called fermentation. Ristow elaborated that this is why green tea is more popular than black tea.

Information about the benefits and risks of green tea is shown in JJ Medicine’s YouTube video:

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