Green tea helps fight the flu

http://www.healthsentinel.com/org_news.php?event=org_news_print_list_item&id=064

Roman Bystrianyk, "Green tea helps fight the flu", Health Sentinel,
November 29, 2005,

Each year there is a mounting fear as the flu season approaches. With
much of the attention given to the avian flu this year, the level of
anxiety has increased in many people. With these concerns there is an
interest in finding alternatives that can help fight the flu.

Several studies show that green tea - in particular chemicals called
polyphenols - decrease the infectivity of the influenza virus. A
study conducted at Pace University indicated that green tea extracts
and polyphenols have an adverse effect on bacteria that cause strep
throat and other infections. Milton Schiffenbauer, PhD, a
microbiologist and biology professor at Pace University in New York
City, stated in a news release that, "Our research shows tea extracts
can destroy the organism that causes disease. If we can stimulate the
immune system and at the same time we are destroying the organisms then
it makes sense to drink more tea."

Green tea is produced from the leaves of an evergreen plant called
Camellia sinensis. The major active ingredient in green tea is believed
to be the polyphenol compounds called catechins. These key compounds
include EGCG, EGC, and ECG.

A study in the August 2005 journal Antiviral Research, examines these
compounds against three currently circulating influenza viruses. The
authors performed a number of experiments to examine the effects of
green tea on these flu strains.

They found that these compounds were effective in reducing the plaque
forming capabilities of the viruses. A plaque is produced when a virus
infects a cell, replicates, and then kills that cell. EGCG and ECG at
50 µM (micromolar) inhibited more than 50% of the plaque forming
ability of the influenza viruses. However, when all the polyphenols
were combined the mixture reduced the plaque forming by over 90% and in
the case of one flu strain (A/Chile/1/83 - H1N1) by nearly 100%.

Other experiments showed that the greater the concentration of green
tea polyphenols the more of the flu virus was inhibited. "The results
suggest that the antiviral effect is exerted not only in the initially
infecting viruses but newly propagated viruses as well."

After drinking 1 cup of tea, the maximum blood concentration of EGCG in
humans reaches 60 micromoles in adults weighing 60 kg (132 pounds).
Some authors recommend as many as 10 cups of green tea per day to
achieve green tea's optimal benefits, although the study authors
caution that this study was done outside the human body and should be
interpreted with some caution.

The author's emphasize that the "total tea extract" was much more
effective than any single of the green tea polyphenols that were tested
in isolation. They note that, "dietary uptake of tea would be
beneficial for direct intervention of influenza virus infection."

SOURCE: Antiviral Research, August 2005

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