Monday, February 22, 2010

Tea catechins' bioavailability demonstrated by new study

A study published in the journal Nutrition shows that "green tea catechins are more bioavailable than previously observed."

"Bioavailable" means how much of an ingested substance survives digestion and whatnot to remain available for the body to absorb and use.

(For instance, that means more green tea antioxidants to fight glaucoma and other eye ailments.)

In the case of green tea, science had long known that catechins such as EGCG have the ability to fight various afflictions. What was unclear, however, was how much of those green tea catechins actually made it into the body to fight those ailments.

Therein lies the significance of this study: Now we have even more proof that compounds like EGCG really do survive the trip into our bodies.

They are, after all, such hearty compounds. (Pun intended.)

Just looking at a scene like this feels good for my eyes. (From a segment of the documentary Kyushu, Where Japan's Green Tea Grows.)

—Mellow Monk

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