In the unrelenting search for sustained health and vigor, you don’t go too far before you encounter, yet again, some “eye opening” mention of great health results/benefits from green tea. I have been hyper-aware of it for more than ten years, and once the “establishment” food market comes to “bite” on it, you know some dissertation-quality research has surfaced.
One of my goals or objectives for this column was to be able to list about ten of “the best” known green teas on the market, but there is way too much info to sift through, and so much is “subjective” that much to my disappointment, all I can is give you a very general guideline which is this: Try to ascertain that your green tea comes from Japan.
Historically, the Japanese have had a considerably less amount of breast cancer and lung cancer than we Americans, and much of that is due to their tea consumption. However, there have been studies done in the past that tie breast cancer to an abundance of adipose (fatty buildup) tissue, and because of the Japanese diet, which WAS very low and for the most part VOID of fat, it would make sense, for that reason, that there was a lower rate of breast cancer. It is higher now, no doubt, because the Western (fat-loaded and palate pleasing) diet has been “imported” there for many years now.
The lung cancer statistics though cannot be explained, I don’t believe, short of their high consumption of green tea, because they smoke like chimneys over there and have for centuries.
Japan has been a major consumer of green tea for more than 4,000 years. As history has it, the origination was in China, but it was brought to Japan by Myoan Eisau, a Buddhist priest, who introduced the Rinzai School of Zen. The best Japanese green tea is said to be that from the Yame region of Fukuota Prefecture and the Uji region of Kyoto. Shizuoka Prefecture produces 40 percent of the raw tea leaf (much to my dismay this still doesn’t give us a brand name). There is a name, however, of a green tea called “Gyokura,” which is said to be the highest grade of tea cultivated in a special way. The English translation of its name is Jade Dew. This tea has a very high caffeine content; however, the high concentration of “L-theanine” in this tea slows down and neutralizes the caffeine assimilation.
Therefore, the amount ingested is minimal – like about 10-60 ml.
The rule of thumb is to steep the lower quality teas for a longer period and the higher quality for the shorter period. The average green tea has more caffeine than coffee (32 mg), but you can minimize your caffeine intake by the length of brewing time. As well, if you reuse your tea bags for a second and third time, the caffeine level drops to 12 mg. And then to 4 mg, respectively.
Aside from actual caffeine green tea has in it, there are a couple of caffeine wannabes called theophylline and theobromine which are stronger and weaker than caffeine, respectively.
The Zen priest Eisai wrote a book in 1191, “The Kissa” (Book of Tea), which describes how green tea consumption positively affects the five vital organs—heart, liver, brain, colon/intestines and lungs—most specifically the heart. The book discusses the medicinal properties, which includes but are not limited entirely to neutralizing and effects of alcohol, acting as a stimulant and anti-inflammatory agent, curing blotchiness, quenching thirst, eliminating gastrointestinal ills, curing beriberi disease and augmenting urinary and brain function. Everything one needs to know about cultivating and preparing the tea dosage for specific physical ailments is in this book.
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