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Green Tea: Performance Secret?
CBS News ^ | Jan. 28, 2005

Posted on 03/03/2005 1:33:46 PM PST by nickcarraway

The amount of green tea eaten by the mice would work out to about 4 cups of green tea a day for a 165-pound human athlete. That's a little less than a liter of tea a day.

Probably not. But green tea extract does make mice stronger swimmers, Japanese researchers report. Ten weeks of green tea supplements plus strenuous exercise made mice swim longer and stronger than mice that swam their laps without performance enhancement.

"We have shown that green tea extracts are beneficial for improving endurance capacity, and that this effect is accompanied by a stimulation of [fat] metabolism," Takatoshi Murase, PhD, writes. "Although the clinical efficacy of green tea extract has not yet been confirmed in human studies, our results suggest that green tea extract may be a useful tool for improving endurance capacity."

Even better news: The mice got stronger because the green tea made them burn fat more efficiently, suggests Murase and colleagues at the Biological Sciences Laboratories of Kao Corp., Tochigi, Japan. Kao Corp. is a maker of green tea products.

The findings appear in the online edition of the American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, published by the American Physiology Society.

Mice — even mighty mice — are not men. But Murase calculates that the amount of green tea eaten by the mice would work out to about 4 cups of green tea a day for a 165-pound human athlete. That's a little less than a liter of tea a day.

Green tea does contain caffeine. But evidence indicates that the performance enhancement comes from green tea chemicals called catechins and not caffeine. The main catechin in green tea is called EGCG. Taken by itself, EGCG did enhance mouse performance. But this effect is "weak," Murase says, compared with the effect of whole green tea extract.

Sources: Murase, T. American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, online edition, January 2005. News release, American Physiology Society.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: greentea; health
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1 posted on 03/03/2005 1:33:47 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Eating 4 cups of tea or drinking 4 cups?


2 posted on 03/03/2005 1:35:48 PM PST by George Smiley (This tagline deliberately targeted journalists.)
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To: nickcarraway

The pre-fab four could have told you this years ago.

3 posted on 03/03/2005 1:37:09 PM PST by steveo (Member: Fathers Against Rude Television)
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To: George Smiley

Barry Bonds is probably already busy spreading on Green Tea "cream" as we speak.


4 posted on 03/03/2005 1:37:16 PM PST by PBRSTREETGANG
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To: steveo

The Rutles? Dirk McQuickly & Co.


5 posted on 03/03/2005 1:39:38 PM PST by HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
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To: nickcarraway
I like it mid-morning before I workout. Gives me that "get up and do what needs to be done" attitude around lunchtime.
6 posted on 03/03/2005 1:39:49 PM PST by zencat (The universe is not what it appears, nor is it something else.)
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To: nickcarraway
Ten weeks of green tea supplements plus strenuous exercise made mice swim longer and stronger than mice that swam their laps without performance enhancement.

Yeah....but can they drive?

7 posted on 03/03/2005 1:40:13 PM PST by chemicalman (Finally an answer for the prisoner problem at Abu Ghraib: Don't take any.)
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To: Rutles4Ever
#3 above

Rutles sighting.

8 posted on 03/03/2005 1:40:42 PM PST by HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
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To: nickcarraway

Admittedly, Radio Doctor's like Dean Adell may not always have the full data on everything, but he addressed this last week (green tea) and reported that JAMA, and a few other such trades have noted there is no real significance in drinking green tea vs any other tea. Those saying green tea is so good for you also tend to have a vested interest in seeing higher sales.

Take it for what it's worth. I drink it because I just like the flavor.


9 posted on 03/03/2005 1:42:18 PM PST by theDentist (The Dems are putting all their eggs in one basket-case: Howard "Belltower" Dean.)
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To: steveo

All You Need Is Tea.


10 posted on 03/03/2005 1:42:26 PM PST by Dinsdale
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To: nickcarraway

Yep, you can buy kick-butt oolong tea in San Francisco Chinatown that will curl your toes clean up to your elbows. Last time I bought it it was $87 a pound.


11 posted on 03/03/2005 1:42:39 PM PST by sergeantdave (Smart growth is Marxist insects agitating for a collective hive.)
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To: nickcarraway

bttt


12 posted on 03/03/2005 1:47:46 PM PST by Ff--150 (Multiple Tsunamis of Income)
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To: Outraged

Ping!


13 posted on 03/03/2005 2:46:25 PM PST by Samizdat
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To: theDentist

I would say the case is not definitive, but there is a lot of research on green tea. There is more research on green tea in general, so there is greater evidence of the beneficial properties of green tea. Eventually, more research will be done on black tea. By the way, I believe what research there is shows white tea to be more beneficial than green tea.


14 posted on 03/03/2005 2:52:35 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

White tea is pretty obscure. Is this a joke, or are you actually familiar with white tea?


15 posted on 03/03/2005 3:52:27 PM PST by Renfield (Philosophy chair at the University of Wallamalloo!!)
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To: Renfield

No, I am familiar with white tea. I drink it all the time.


16 posted on 03/03/2005 4:04:05 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

...message sponsored by the green tea lobby.


17 posted on 03/03/2005 4:05:45 PM PST by DCPatriot ("It aint what you don't know that kills you. It's what you know that aint so" Theodore Sturgeon)
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To: nickcarraway

White tea? Never heard of it... have you tried it? Any good?


18 posted on 03/03/2005 4:20:33 PM PST by theDentist (The Dems are putting all their eggs in one basket-case: Howard "Belltower" Dean.)
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To: theDentist

higher antioxidant content than greentea... a bit more money too but good.


19 posted on 03/03/2005 4:21:33 PM PST by cyborg (http://mentalmumblings.blogspot.com/)
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To: cyborg

k, I'll give it a try.


20 posted on 03/03/2005 4:25:11 PM PST by theDentist (The Dems are putting all their eggs in one basket-case: Howard "Belltower" Dean.)
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