The Orientals have credited Green tea with miracle healing powers for Centuries. In 1191 a Zen priest by the name of Elsai wrote “The Book of Tea” or Kissa Yojoki. In this book he discussed Green Tea’s medical capabilities. Among the powers that were mentioned were such effects as Green Tea’s ability to work as a stimulant, its ability to eliminate indigestion, prevent fatigue, and improve both the urinary function and brain function. Green Tea has also been credited with the ability to stimulate weight loss, reduce cholesterol, prevent cardiovascular disease, improve immune function in Aids victims, Stop Alzheimer’s and even treats arthritis and MS and breast cancer. About the only thing it has not been credited with is the ability to prevent hair loss.
Lately there have been comments plastered all over the media, such as MSNBC, that the FDA does not support these claims. In fact they have stated that the FDA “rejects all Green Tea’s claims of health benefits. They have been quoted as saying “There is no credible evidence to support qualified claims of Green Tea.”
A normal initial reaction would be to automatically accept the fact that the FDA is right; there are no true health benefits. Certainly the all knowing all qualifying medical experts that make up the FDA know best. After all certainly they have run numerous medical experiments to support these derogatory remarks. Who are we going to believe? The U.S. Federal Drug and Alcohol Commission, or some “ancient Chinese secret?”
Before we allow these remarks to totally discredit the Proud Chinese people and their beliefs in the healing powers of Green Tea, we need to explore what tests the FDA ran and what were their exact results. What scientific proof does the FDA have to validate their dispute of these health claims?
Actually the FDA has not run any tests. They have not conducted a single scientific experiment to either support or deny these claims. Rather a committee of members of the FDA read 105 articles and publications from major medical companies and universities. These publications were documented results from professionally conducted scientific experiments. After reading these reports they stated that “no credible, evidence could be found.”
Yet these reports were generated from major organizations with medical credibility. The list of institutions include such medical ‘power hitters’ as the National Cancer Society, who published results of tests that showed that Green Tea reduced the risk of Esophageal Cancer, Perdue University, whose researchers concluded that a compound in Green Tea inhibits the growth of Cancer cells and even demonstrates the ability to hinder the growth of Tumors, and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition who support the claims that Green Tea has shown the ability to assist in weight reduction.
So while the FDA may not support these results or even credit them as being reliable, there is far too many tests that have reliable evidence to support these amazing claims. What we need to understand before discounting Green Teas natural abilities is that the FDA has not denounced these claims but rather has said they that are not convinced, that Green Tea has the abilities it claims. While the FDA can not find enough scientific evidence to endorse these claims, they have not conducted experiments to support the contrary.
We can not allow ourselves to become confused by the media and the mighty name of the FDA and the power that is synonymous with it. We need to understand the language of what the FDA said, and not fall victim to the idea that the health benefits of Green Tea are false. We should not understand the FDA to say that Green Tea does not have medical benefits but rather that they have not seen enough evidence to prove to them that these claims are valid.
We need to look at all the evidence provided by major institutions that support these benefits and not be ready to abandon these claims because the FDA says it is not convinced that Green Tea prevents heart disease, assists in weight loss and arthritis, prevents cancer and as Elsai said in 1191 that Green Tea stimulates brain activity. In Fact the FDA is not saying any of this, so lets not get confused by the media and what we think we read or heard.
Like the Childhood game of telephone where one child starts with a story and passes it along till it reaches the child at the other end of the line, the facts get confused. The FDA is simply not convinced by what they read nor should we be convinced by what we read and think that the FDA is saying that Green Tea does not do any of these things.
After all if so many Orientals have believed this for so long than whom are we to believe otherwise until the FDA or some other organization can provide solid proof that green tea is not good for our health. I for one will continue to drink several glasses a day and believe that Green Tea is good for me. After all this is not the first time the FDA has doubted ancient medical remedies, remedies that have been supported for centuries and have recent modern technologically assisted proof that they work.
