Green tea has many beneficial properties. The active ingredients in green tea can even be taken in capsule extract form for therapeutic purposes. But when is the best time to take these capsules? AND When and how is it best to drink green tea so that the active ingredients really work?
Effects of epigallocatechin gallate
The best-known active ingredient in green tea is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a plant substance from the catechin group. Among the effects attributed to it are the following:
- It is highly antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
- Regulates blood sugar
- Helps lower cholesterol and blood pressure
- Reduces joint inflammation
- Helps reduce symptoms of fibroids and endometriosis
- Activate memory and concentration
Better on an empty stomach and only water
Whether you drink green tea or ingest a green tea extract capsule, you want to get the maximum benefits from this natural substance.
One study looked at the best way to consume EGCG for maximum benefit. They tried taking EGCG capsules with a light breakfast, with strawberry sorbet or simply with water. The result showed that the best assimilation occurred when taking it alone with water, that is, without any food.
The antioxidant capacity when ingested with water was 2.7 times greater than when ingested with a light breakfast and 3.9 times higher than when taken with strawberry sorbet. Therefore, meals inhibit the absorption of EGCG.
Another investigation obtained a similar result. He found that absorption was significantly greater when taken with water alone than when taken with breakfast.
Therefore, you should drink green tea up to a maximum of half an hour before a meal and no earlier than 1.5 to 2 hours after a meal. The same thing happens if instead of drinking the tea you take capsules with green tea extract.
It is advisable not to drink green tea with meals
Food not only prevents the absorption and effect of the active components of green tea. This can also inhibit the absorption of essential minerals provided by food ingredients.
Green tea can reduce iron absorption, for example. EGCG binds to iron molecules so that neither one nor the other can function and both are excreted with the feces.
Other studies confirm this (like this one and this one). Therefore, green tea is not a suitable drink with meals for people prone to iron deficiency or even anemia.
EGCG can also inhibit the absorption of copper, chromium and cadmium.
Green tea is prepared with soft water
It is a good idea to brew your green tea with soft water, i.e. poor in calcium, because this can hinder the absorption of EGCG.
To prepare your infusion, choose water with very weak mineralization or filter the supply water.
Why is it better to drink green tea with lemon?
It seems like green tea doesn’t do well at all, but it’s not true. You can accompany it with vitamin C and omega-3 fatty acids, because both increase the bioavailability of EGCG.
Therefore, It makes sense to drink green tea with a dash of freshly squeezed lemon juice.
In the afternoon: green tea regulates blood sugar
However, if you want to use green tea specifically to regulate blood sugar, you should, according to a study that appeared in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, drink it in the afternoon.
In this study, they drank 350 ml of green tea with dinner. It contained a total of 615 mg of catechins (including 135 mg of EGCG) and 85 mg of caffeine. It was a normal green tea, which usually contains between 40 and 100 mg of EGCG per 100 ml of tea. Lower amounts of EGCG are found in decaffeinated green teas (between 20 and 45 mg of EGCG per 100 ml).
But keep in mind that green tea can cause sleeping problems. In that case you should change to decaffeinated green tea. In fact, green tea with less caffeine (5.5 mg per 150 ml) compared to green tea with normal caffeine content (18 mg per 150 ml) can improve sleep quality and improve or reduce the level of some stress markers.
Warm green tea: to reduce stress at any time
The L-theanine contained in green tea is the active ingredient that can reduce stress. In general, it promotes relaxation and at the same time improves brain functions.
If you want to drink green tea at night to promote sleep or reduce stress, brew the tea with just warm water. Because The hotter the water, the more caffeine dissolves into the tea. The solubility of EGCG reduces as the water temperature decreases, but the solubility of L-theanine remains the same as at high temperature.
Green tea extract can be taken at night
EGCG, the main active ingredient in green tea extract, has a relaxing rather than stimulating effect. It even appears to counteract the stimulant and circulatory properties (increased blood pressure and heart rate) of caffeine.
Therefore, if you want to take EGCG in the form of green tea extract capsules, you can also do so first thing in the evening, if they are decaffeinated capsules. Green tea extract capsules containing caffeine are not suitable for nighttime consumption. It is best to check directly with the respective manufacturer about the residual caffeine content of their capsules, if not specified.