Green Tea Forum

somedia · Uh, Can I Add Sugar? Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 8

It almost seems a bit redundant to point out that tea might have the ability to alleviate fatigue. After all, for many people who drink it (and coffee) that's one of tea's most appealing features. But, according to more than one study, it's not just the caffeine content of tea that imparts this benefit.

Recent research in Japan appears to have confirmed what for many people was already a given, that tea may help cut down on physical and mental fatigue. Results of a study that appeared in the journal Nutrition in 2008 indicated that a green tea extract helped counter the accumulated effects of fatigue.

The tests were carried out on rats and found that those fed a green tea compound called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) were able to exercise longer than animals in a control group. Researchers noted that those in the control group experienced increased levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), which were lessened in the group given EGCG.

A previous study indicated that green tea extract tended to alleviate chronic fatigue-induced oxidative stress in mice. According to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and DePaul University, there are more than one million people, just in the United States alone, who suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

The study, which was conducted by researchers at India's Panjab University, treated mice with a combination of green tea extract and catechin, a compound also found in tea. They concluded "that GTE and catechin could be used as potential agents in the management of CFS and warrant the inclusion of GTE and catechin in the treatment regimen of CFS patients.

The notion that tea (and coffee) can help with fatigue is obviously not a new one, as evidenced by this 1989 article - Fatigue: Often Tea & Coffee Can Alleviate Symptoms - which first appeared in the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

tealover · Uh, Can I Add Sugar? Joined: 11 Oct 2008 Posts: 3

Good post. I believe that tea does this. I feel energized after a few cups of tea. For me, it is a much different kind of energy than I would get from coke or coffee too.

okimasa · Posted: Oct 11, 2008 7:10 am Post subject:

I find it interesting how green tea can energise some people, but mellow others out. For me though, it's an energy boost. Also, like Tealover was saying, it isn't like drinking a coffee or a coke- that gives me a "buzz" where green tea actually increases my energy level.

Although on the other hand, I can drink it before I got to bed and not have any trouble falling asleep.

Oni · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 194

You need to increase the absorbtion of tea into your body, that is why most asians dring loose leaf tea with multiple strong infusions from small cups for an extended amount of time, and sweets help you absorb better, I have read that high quality aged puerh can last up to 20 infusions, you sit and drink the same tea for hours and just fill your body with the good stuff.

Ryan · Sensei Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 475

Oni · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 194

I tried this method of drinking out of a gaiwan, but that still takes 3 infusions, the correct method is that when you drink off the water till only 1/3 remains, just enough to cover, then you can refill and wait, that can be repeated till the taste runs out, so this is not a waste of tea, mostly you can get 3 infusions from a good tea, I had a little sencha left over and I have tried this method and it was more that ok, easy.