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What are catechins?

Updated: 8/20/2019
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SaletteAnnAndrews

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10y ago

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Catechins are flavonol phytonutrients that are potent anti-oxidants that can prevent tumor blood vessel growth, protect against the development of atherosclerotic plaque buildups in arteries, help promote anti-diabetic effects in insulin resistance, and provide significant protection against Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. They include:

  • Gallocatechin, found primarily in green tea, but also in bananas, persimmon, and pomegranate, is an antioxidant.
  • Epicatechin, found in chocolate, tea, grapes and blueberries, is a strongantioxidant, has insulin mimic action, improves heart health, exerts a protective role on osmotic fragility of cells, similar to that of insulin, reduces lipid peroxidation and inhibits platelet aggregation, and causes blood vessel dilation by regulating nitric oxide, a molecule secreted by the blood vessel endothelium to signal surrounding muscle to relax.
  • Epigallocatechin, found in carob flour, black tea, green tea, and oolong tea, helps prevent arteriosclerosis and Heart disease, reduces blood levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high blood pressure, and acts as an anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant.
  • Kaempferol, found in tea, broccoli, grapefruit, cabbage, kale, bok choy, beans, endive, leeks, tomato, strawberries, grapes,Brussels sprouts, apples, red wine, onions, ginkgo bilboa, and St. John's Wort, has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, antidiabetic, anti-osteoporotic, estrogenic/antiestrogenic, anxiolytic, analgesic, and antiallergic activities. It is a strong antioxidant that helps to prevent oxidative damage of your cells, lipids, and DNA, seems to prevent arteriosclerosis by inhibiting the oxidation of low density lipoprotein and the formation of platelets in the blood, and acts as a chemopreventive agent, which means that it inhibits the formation of cancer cells.
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What types of bioflavonoids are there?

Types of bioflavonoids include flavones, isoflavonoids, flavanones (such as catechins and naringin), and flavanols.


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An array of bioflavonoids (quercetin, catechins, flavonols, and anthocyanidins) and nonbioflavonoid polyphenols (acid derivatives), resveratrol.


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Green tea has been proven to increase the oxidation of fat by virtue of its high concentrations of antioxidants called catechins. Another great side effect of these antioxidants is that they also improve mood and are great for the skin. The dieters who have used our free green tea diet have reported that they actually enjoyed the diet and never felt deprived. All teas have some amount of catechins in them because they all come from the same plant, the camellia senesis. Green teas have greater quantities of catechins because they're subjected to less oxidation during the processing. Thus white tea (young green tea) has the most, green teas such as Sencha have the next greatest quantity and oolongs have the least. Black teas such as Earl Gray have very small amounts of catechins, because they've been fully oxidized.


What tea you need to lose waight?

The best type of tea for weight loss is Green tea. Tea contains fat burning properties called catechins. Green tea is much richer in catechins than black tea, it also tastes much nicer. Catechins have a life span of less than 24 hours in the body, therefore, regular consumption is advisable.


What is another name for antioxidants found in tea?

There are many antioxidants in tea, and they have many names, depending on how specific you want to get. The antioxidants are all a type of flavonoid, which are also classified as polyphenols. Green and white tea are richest in catechins, a class of chemicals which include epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin gallate (ECG), and epigallocatechin gallate.Black tea, oolong tea, and other oxidized teas contain catechins as well, but some of these chemicals have been converted to other antioxidants, called theaflavins and thearubigins. These antioxidants are also called tannins, and are responsible for the dark color of black tea.Herbal tea contains other antioxidants, and generally does not contain catechins. However, it does still contain polyphenols (which are a broader class of chemicals).


Which Himalayan tea is best for you?

Himalayan White Tea is known to have a number of nutrients and antimicrobial qualities that safeguard the body against the manifestation of various diseases. It has polyphenols, a group of phytonutrients, and varying levels of catechins, a class of polyphenols.


What is the compound of tea?

There's lots of components in tea, but the major ones we know so far are caffeine, catechins (antioxidants), and tannins (which may include tannic acid - which is the reason why it's not really advisable to take medication with tea as it may react with them).


Does green tea work for weight loss?

Green tea extract resulted in a significant increase in energy expenditure (a measure of metabolism), plus also had a significant effect on fat oxidation. While some of the effects were originally theorized to be due to the caffeine content of green tea, the researchers discovered that the tea actually has properties that go beyond those that would be explained by the caffeine. Green tea is particularly rich in a type of polyphenols called catechins. These substances have also been shown to have anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties, but recent research in animals show that catechins may also affect body fat accumulation and cholesterol levels. Researchers looked at the effects of catechins on body fat reduction and weight loss in a group of 35 Japanese men. The men had similar weights based on theirBMI (body mass index, an indicator of body fat) and waist sizes. The men were divided into two groups. For three months, the first group drank a bottle of oolong tea fortified with green tea extract containing 690 milligrams of catechins, and the other group drank a bottle of oolong tea with 22 milligrams of catechins. During this time, the men ate identical breakfasts and dinners and were instructed to control their calorie and fat intake at all times so that overall total diets were similar. After three months, the study showed that the men who drank the green tea extract lost more weight (5.3 pounds vs. 2.9 pounds) and experienced a significantly greater decrease in BMI, waist size, and total body fat. In addition, LDL "bad" cholesterol went down in the men who drank the green tea extract. The catechin content varies by amount of green tea used and steeping time. But general recommendations, based on previous studies on the benefits of green tea, are at least 4 cups a day. Green tea extract supplements are also available. Researchers say the results indicate that catechins in green tea not only help burn calories and lower LDL cholesterol but may also be able to mildly reduce body fat. "These results suggest that catechins contribute to the prevention of and improvement in various lifestyle-related diseases, particularly obesity," write researcher Tomonori Nagao of Health Care Products Research Laboratories in Tokyo, and colleagues.


What nutrients do apples contain?

Apples contain many nutrients that are needed for a healthy and well-balanced diet. These nutrients include flavonols, catechins, anthocyanin's, chlorogenic acid, phloridizin, and many other polyphenol nutrients. Apples also contain Vitamin C and fiber pectin.


What temperature causes EGCG to convert to CGC - I am trying to find the optimum brewing temperature of green tea so that the most amount of catechins are released but EGCG is not eperimized to CGC?

A scientific article about EGCG being heat-eperimized to CGC in green tea shows that at 120 degrees C about 50% of the catechins are eperimized: (CGC actually has stronger cholesterol reducing properties than EGCG) The Wikipedia entry can be found in the related links below. And the original article it cites is also available in the related links. Although I cannot find what the minimum temperature eperimization occurs at, the lower and hottest recommended green tea brewing temperatures are 61°C to 69°C and 81°C to 87°C. See the Wikipedia - green tea -steeping related link below. Adding citrus juice or Vitamin C to green tea can increase intestinal catechin absorption by 5 times: Please see the Green Tea with Vit. C Related link below. Finally white tea, which is essentially less processed green tea, has more EGCG and other catechins. See the Related link below.


Is chocolate poisinous to humans?

Anything in large enough quantities can be toxic to you because of the inability for your liver and kidneys to filter it out of your system causeing harm and cirrhosis. In small quantities chocolate can be good because it has antioxidants called Catechins and Phenols that help your body clean out the toxins. These antioxidants could prevent heart diseases and cancer.


Is drinking green tea more healthy then drinking regular tea's?

Yes, it is. Green tea contains a lot of catechins, so it can prevent cancers. It can also reduce the high blood pressure, Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, the risk of stroke, and it can smoothen our skin, while the regular tea can increase our concentration and prevent sleepiness.