A recent study published January 19, 2010, in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, suggests green tea may help to prevent glaucoma — an eye disease that damages the optic nerve and impairs vision. The researchers’ conclusions are based on rat studies in which the catechins found in green tea — believed to prevent damage caused by oxidation — reduced oxidative stress in rat eyes.
From the published report: “Catechins, active constituents of green tea, are well-known antioxidative natural products. It was proposed that green tea extract consumption could benefit the eye, and the pharmacokinetics of catechins and oxidation status in rat eye were investigated after oral administration.”
The health benefits of green tea have been touted by the Chinese for centuries as a panacea for everything from headaches to depression. Although there are many skeptics in the medical community, Katherine Tallmadge, a nutritionist and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association isn’t one of them. “I believe in green tea based on everything written about it,” says Tallmadge. “Green tea, white tea, black tea — I like all of them.”
