Green Tea as a Drug

Green tea, which looks black after it is processed, is a leaf that is taken from a plant. Like all plants, there are several species of the plant, and even hybrids that have enough ‘green tea’ DNA to still carry the label green tea. Tea takes a long time to grow. Most ‘real’ tea plants need to grow in mountain soil, some in volcanic soil, and in certain climates. To make the product more marketable, the original tea blends are blended with hardier plants to make a hybrid. These hybrids can be grown on plantations, and produce more yield per plant. However, the final tea has dubious medical benefits, if any at all.


This is why it is important to buy pharmaceutical grade green tea. The best place to buy this is in an extract. Several different Chinese teas come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. Green tea is set apart because the leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. Most teas are fermented changing the EGCG compound. When green tea is processed for mass market consumption, the original method of preparing the tea is changed, hurried, and modernized. This may also change the EGCG properties.