Green Tea x 50 is not Green Tea

I have been asked about this supplement on numerous occasions, and come across clients with the misinformation that Green Tea x 50 is green tea. This post will describe how the two items differ.

What is Green Tea?

Green tea is made from Camellia sinensis leaves that have undergone minimal oxidation during processing. 

What does Green Tea contain?

B vitamins, folate (naturally occurring folic acid), manganese, potassium, magnesium, caffeine.

Like any other caffeine containing item there can be side effects with the amount you consume depending on sensitivity levels. These include such as nausea, vomiting, mood changes, restlessness, heart palpitations and insomnia. 

There is 25mg of caffeine per serve
(A regular coffee can contain from 120mg-220mg caffeine per serve)

Benefits of Green Tea

•          Reduce blood pressure
•          Control blood sugar levels
•          Boost metabolism
•          Reduce cholesterol levels
•          Reduce inflammation
•          And much more

What is Green Tea x 50

Green tea x 50 marketed as a concentrated green tea supplement providing you with the benefit of 20 cups of green tea in one serve

What is in Green Tea x 50?

Green Tea Extract (16%) – is mostly safe and is beneficial for boosting metabolism, cancer prevention and reducing LDL cholesterol, it can also causes issue in those with anaemia, diabetics, digestive concerns, mood disorders, glaucoma, liver concerns and osteoporosis just to name a few. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, mood changes, restlessness, heart palpitations and insomnia. There can be a negative interactions with statins, drugs affecting liver enzymes that remove caffeine from your body such as antibiotics, antihistamines and the contraceptive pill. There is 27mg of caffeine per serve

Resveratrol Extract (5.5%) – is mostly safe and for the most part can help reduce LDL cholesterol levels & increase HDL cholesterol levels, however it can interact with some statins, antibiotics, antihistamines, voltaren, Panadol basically any medications that are changed by the liver. This means the medication will take longer to break down increasing the effect AND side effects of the medication

Maltodextrin – natural but highly processed. Generally, maltodextrin comes from corn, rice, or potato starch. It is a carbohydrate. It can affect blood sugar levels and negatively affect your gut flora

Ascorbic Acid - an isolate of Vitamin C and safe to ingest providing there is no allergy to this compound. The amount that is used is not listed and an excess of ascorbic acid is most likely to be diarrhoea as your body excretes the excess.  

Xylitol – is a sugar alcohol general found in small amounts of fruits. Whilst in small amounts pose no risk, in large amounts (amount is not listed on this product) can cause bloating, diarrhoea, spike blood sugar levels, diabetes and promote tumour growth

Citric Acid - is a natural preservative found in citrus fruit. Side effects from this preservative in excessive amounts are nausea, diarrhoea, bloating cramps but can be severe as swelling and tingling in your extremities. It can react with supplements containing calcium, antacids, decongestants, UTI and lithium medications.

Natural Flavours & Colours – this means there are other flavours and colours that do not need to be listed in or named in specific amounts. This will only be a concern if there is an allergy to a paritcular colour or flavour.

Malic Acid – found in apples this will add the sour content to the product and is safe to ingest and mostly used in topical creams, however it has also been found useful for fibromyalgia sufferers.

Alfalfa – is a beneficial herb which can lower cholesterol levels, reducing inflammation and levelling blood sugar levels. It should not be consumed in excess in pregnancy or oestrogen sensitive conditions as it is seen as a phytoestrogen, it can also increase the symptoms of auto-immune diseases.  Medications it may affect include warfarin, contraception pills and immune suppressants

Sucralose- is a synthetic sweetener that the body is unable to metabolise. It is a sweetener which through many studies have should to cause migraines, gastrointestinal issues as well as a possible link to some cancers only in excessive amounts

Pepper – is often used to enhance the absorption rates of some nutrients and a power nutrient. An excess of pepper can affect any medications that are changed by the liver (as listed above)

Fortunately this product lists all ingredients included (anything less than 5% does not have to be listed) and it is recommended at serve 2 serves per day (3g per serve). This product also meets all TGA guidelines & all ingredients are listed are minimal amounts as directed by TGA 


Before consuming any supplement it is important you are aware of the ingredients and it is important to contact your health care professional to help decide whether a product is safe for you. If you have any questions about supplements you are taken please contact Naed Nutrition at admin@naednutrition.com.au

Oxidative Stress & Cancer Development

I recently attended an integrative oncology seminar that ignited an interest in nutrition and cancer prevention, therapy and treatment. I wanted to share some of the eye opening information I learned in terms of oxidative stress and its role in cancer development, and how nutrition therapy can help to prevent its progresssion.

The cells within our bodies undergo millions of divisions every day, and these divisions are highly sensitive to oxidative damage and stress. Oxidative stress occurs as a result of a build up of free radicals, otherwise know as ROS (reactive oxygen species), these molecules are a byproduct of energy consumption within mitochondria, the powerhouses of our cells. Everyday activities such as breathing, eating and exercising produce free radicals. These free radicals can accumulate in high amounts and damage our cells and leave tissues unable to function correctly, leading to the formation of health conditions and disease, including cancer.

There is a specific time of cell division that is sensitive to oxidative damage known as the spindle checkpoint, this is a stage of cell division that safeguards chromosome division to ensure the correct number of chromosomes are formed, if there is any error in cell division this checkpoint will halt division while the error is fixed. Oxidative stress overrides this checkpoint and therefore can result in aneuploidy, which causes an abnormal amount of chromosomes to form in a cell and DNA damage. This cell instability can lead to malignant tumor formation.

Aneuploidy can be reduced by the lifelong supplementation of antioxidants. Antioxidants are naturally occurring chemicals found in certain foods that prevent cell damage, help to maintain tissues and prevent disease. Chromosomal instability characteristic of cancer formation can be reduced via the intake or supplementation of the following antioxidants:

CoQ10 – An antioxidant essential for basic cell function and co enzyme used in energy production. CoQ10 is produced within the body but can be obtained via diet and supplementation.  CoQ10 is found naturally in beef, poultry, fish, soybean & canola oil, sesame seeds, pistachios, fruits and vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, oranges and strawberries.

Vitamin E – A fat-soluble antioxidant that is one of the body’s primary defenders against free radicals, acting to prevent oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids and other lipids. Vitamin E is particularly beneficial in preventing LDL cholesterol oxidation, reducing risks of heart disease.  Vitamin E is found in polyunsaturated plant oils, leafy green vegetables, wheat germ, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

Plant Flavonoids – Found in green tea, soy, milk thistle, turmeric and ginger, flavonoids are a group of phytochemical's with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that act to maintain cell membranes. 

Therefore, through regular intake of coQ10, vitamin E and a range of plant flavonoids, oxidative stress can be reduced effectively reducing cell instability caused by free radical damage and reducing risks of cancer progression.

Benefits of Green Tea

It has been recommended that green tea promotes weight loss. How does this work? And how switching from green tea from black tea is beneficial.

Green tea consists of polyphenols such as flavanol monomers or catechins which are antioxidants, anti-cancer, antiviral and anti-plaque forming properties, as well as contributing to reducing blood pressure and controlling blood sugar.Green tea is a “may reduce LDL oxidation and the formation of oxidized DNA metabolites, thus contributing to lower risks of CVD and cancer” (St-Onge 2005) due to the fact that it’s a powerful antioxidant. It is non-oxidised where as black and oolong tea are quite heavily oxidized (St-Onge 2005). Catechins also are said to inhibit fat accumulation, stimulate thermogenesis and reduce the total cholesterol concentration. Green tea is also suggested to decrease body weight and waist circumference. Green tea is a “powerful antioxidants that may reduce LDL oxidation and the formation of oxidized DNA metabolites, thus contributing to lower risks of CVD and cancer” (St-Onge 2005).

Some studies have shown the long term, participants in the study who were on a diet plan and consumed green tea on a daily basis actually had a greater reduction in body fat percentage, waist/circumference ratio, skin folds, subcutaneous total and fat area when compared with those participants on a diet plan and oolong tea.  The studies also proved that green tea encourages energy expenditure and reduced total body fat. Another major contributing factor to a reduction in body fat was the ability of the catechins to prevent the formation of oxidised low density lipoprotein lipids, to also aid in reducing the risk for atherosclerosis.

Several other studies have concluded that green tea increased fat oxidation and increased thermogenesis concluding that green tea can influence body composition & weight. It was also discovered that it was not caffeine alone that stimulated thermogenesis but the green tea extract it self was stimulating thermogenesis in an in vitro experiment.

From these studies it is believe that you will benefit greatly from switching his black tea every day to green tea because of its fat oxidising properties and stimulation of thermogenesis, to aid weight loss.  

It is recommended you have 2 – 4 cups of loose leaf green tea away from food in order to receive the benefits.

References

Nagao, T, Komine, Y,Soga, S, Meguro, S, Hase, T, Tanaka, Y & Tokimitsu, I 2005, Ingestion of a tea rich in catechins leads to a reduction in body fat and malondialdehyde-modified LDL in men, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 81, pp.122-129.

St-Onge, M 2005, Dietary fats, teas, dairy, and nuts: potential functional foods for weight control, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 81, no. 1, pp 7-15.