Green Tea Forum

greenisgood · Black Belt Joined: 20 Jan 2008 Posts: 104

I'm usually not one to blah blah blah about how good green tea is for you, I personally think its just kind of a nice thing that tea is good for you too and that it seems almost disrespectful to treat it like some sort of medicine. If you want to take your medicine you're better off buying some Chinese matcha from the Republic than top quality sencha and gyokuro.

But anyway, I was wondering if anyone with seasonal allergies like myself has found that green tea helps to reduce symptoms. I have heard that it can help to reduce allergic reactions but I think that any benefits might just come from taking in a lot of hot fluids. I've stopped taking allergy medicine altogether and for the past couple years have either been suffering or experimenting with various new-agey, herbal, natural, etc. stuff which may or may not work. Just wondering if anyone has noticed anything with green tea in particular, I can't tell if its the tea or something else I'm doing when my allergies are better.

PS When your nose is stuffed but your still jonesin' for that o-cha, I've found that slightly oversteeped fukamushi to be the best tea to power through such minor taste impediments.

Kevangogh · God Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 874 Location: Japan

I used to have allergies really bad. Every time I would go back to the USA, I would have to stock up on Clartin D, etc. This was with or without green tea. Then when I started doing the body builder's diet thing a year ago, and after losing 34 pounds, one side benefit (out of many) was that my allergy problem practically disappeared! Not sure why, how, or if it's just a fluke, but no more allergies!

This leads me to believe that allergies are some how linked to what you eat.

Seedillume · Posted: May 02, 2008 4:07 pm Post subject:

All allergies are linked to ones environment. You change that, and the body might react favorably.

When I leave on vacation to Hawaii, Tahiti, etc., my asthma and allergies are pretty much gone. When I return, my lungs feel congested, I wheeze, and start sneezing with a lot of post nasal drip.

I haven't been drinking green tea long, but my allergies and asthma have stayed the same. I'll have to see a year or so from now.

Ritva · Uh, Can I Add Sugar? Joined: 06 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

There are some japanese studies showing that green tea does have anti-allergic effects. However, these studies are made with tea cultivar "Benifuki" which has much higher catechin levels than other green tea cultivars. Catechins give tea a bitter taste, so unfortunately higher catechin levels can mean quite bitter tasting tea.

Some of the studies are published in peer-reviewed scientific journals which means that these studies are reliable.
Some examples:
Nagai et al. 2005: The development of a suitable manufacturing process for "Benifuuki" green tea beverage with anti-allergic effects. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 85: 1606-1612.
Maeda-Yamamoto et al. 2007: In vitro and in vivo anti-allergic effects of ‘benifuuki’ green tea containing O -methylated catechin and ginger extract enhancement. Cytotechnology 55:135-142

At least one japanese tea company (Maiko Tea) has started to sell powdered Benifuki tea for health purposes.