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Five Green Tea Questions for Dr. Fautek
Green tea has a potential for miracles: It strengthens the immune system, makes you fit and lively and may even help to prevent cancer. But what about the good image of green tea?
We asked Dr Jan-Dirk Fauteck, founding member and scientific director of the training academy for doctors interested in preventive medicine ea3m, European Academy of Preventive and Anti-Aging Medicine, five questions about it.
How does green tea affect someone's overall health and well-being from your medical perspective?
“Green tea and/or high-quality green tea extract has many positive effects on our well-being and ultimately also on our health. Thanks to its many active ingredients, above all EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), it supports and contributes to many physiological processes in our body This ensures that these processes do not get out of balance, because it is precisely this balance that is the basic requirement for our body to feel good and stay healthy or become healthy again.”
Are there any scientific studies that confirm the health benefits of green tea? What are the key insights?
“Over the past two decades, there has been a steadily increasing number of scientific papers that have clearly demonstrated the benefits of EGCG or green tea extract. On the one hand, it has been shown that green tea extract is a potent antioxidant to treat so many diseases at the beginning of their respective On the other hand, it also influences other pathogenic processes in such a way that, for example, certain cytokines are not produced in excess, thereby stopping or at least dramatically reducing the inflammatory process, a process that is considered a basic prerequisite for many diseases. It can be proven that the regular intake of high-quality EGCG, for example, prevents the growth of a wide variety of tumors and that the size of the tumors can even be reduced over time in some cases.
Other clinical studies have shown that the local application of EGCG creams containing lasting improvement in the appearance of the skin. The latest studies also indicate that neurodegenerative processes are also positively influenced.”
Can the Antioxidants in Green Tea Offer Protection Against Age-Related Diseases? How and to what extent could this be the case?
“Both the so-called subliminal inflammation and the increased production of free radicals are the main causes of many age-related diseases. As already mentioned, the green tea extract has a high effectiveness in both cases in reducing, if not stopping, these processes. It is therefore not surprising that that EGCG also has a preventive effect in keeping age-related diseases under control.Certainly, this effect is both dose-dependent to a certain extent and the earlier one starts prevention, the more effective it is.Ongoing long-term studies will confirm that early and long-term supplementation of EGCG can reduce diseases such as the metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular problems, neurodegenerative processes of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s as well as oncological changes, if not even partially prevent them. Findings from the preliminary short-term studies and animal studies give hope for positive things.”
What benefits might regular consumption of green tea have for patients with certain diseases or conditions?
“Basically, one should distinguish whether one wants to use the green tea extract as a preventive measure or whether one wants to use it under certain clinical conditions, e.g. as an add-on. In the first case, consumption should take place regularly, as early as possible and for a longer period of time. Suitable here Slightly lower dosages are probably also possible, such as up to 180 mg three times a day. If certain diseases are already present, EGCG can also be used in the short term, in slightly higher dosages for medium-term supplement periods. In this case, the green tea extract should often be combined with other phytochemicals and/or or combine with other dietary supplements to achieve an increased effect.”
How would you classify the consumption of green tea compared to other health-promoting measures such as exercise or a change in diet?
“In the so-called preventive medicine or orthomolecular medicine, there is not one super product that is suitable for all needs. Rather, it is the combination that counts and here two things are unavoidable: in order to achieve a certain long-term success, the The lifestyle of the respective person can be improved. In most cases, an optimization of the nutritional habits is essential for this. At the same time, healthy exercise or sporting activity is required. Both together, nutrition and sport, support each other in order to maintain health If you then supplement these measures with the supplementation of vital substances such as green tea, the successes in terms of health promotion can be increased again. The sole supplementation with poor nutrition and too little physical exercise, on the other hand, is ineffective and the desired effect remains unachieved..
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