What is EGCG and what are the health benefits of EGCG? Let’s find out in the following article.
Tea is one of the most popular beverages worldwide with significant annual consumption. Today, tea is often used as a flavored beverage, although there are many studies that prove tea as one of the effective medical treatments. Some typical teas that have been shown to have huge health benefits like green tea . It has also been an important ingredient in Chinese medicine since ages.
Over time and many valuable medical studies have proven that green tea is one of the healthiest beverages in the world. This effect is obtained because green tea contains a large amount of antioxidants that are very beneficial to the human body. Of all the antioxidants and natural nutrients found in green tea, one is the most important. That ingredient is EGCG which we will also learn about shortly. In this article, we will also learn what EGCG is and how it works to bring about human health.
EGCG is an extract found abundantly in green tea.
EGCG stands for Epigallocatechin galate . This is a type of natural polyphenol found in abundance in green tea. Polyphenol is an essential micronutrient for the body to help prevent degenerative diseases, especially cancer and cardiovascular diseases. It is found in many of the foods we use every day and especially in green tea.
As the main polyphenol compound in green tea with healing and protective functions, EGCG is particularly powerful with 25-100 times more antioxidant power than vitamins A, C, and E. Research at the University of Georgia and the Ministry of Health US veterans have proven EGCG will protect the skin’s immune system, slow down the aging process of cells and stabilize sensitive, irritated skin. According to scientist Santosh Katiyar, it “boosts the production of interleukin-12, which plays a role in DNA repair. If green tea polyphenols can repair DNA, they could prevent skin cancer.” EGCG is also being studied for the treatment of HIV.
In addition to polyphenols, green tea contains other nutrients including catechins, proathocyanins, epicatechins, etc. This active compound provides powerful antioxidants. This is a very important ingredient that makes green tea a great health food. EGCG has a number of outstanding benefits that we will explore below.
If you read the ingredients found in most natural fat supplements, you will find that many of them contain natural green tea extract.
EGCG boosts your body’s natural metabolism helping you burn more energy. EGCG also increases the body’s ability to use excess fat as its main source of energy, much of which is of visceral origin. Fat in the body is mainly concentrated around the abdomen and is very dangerous because large amounts of fat can put pressure on internal organs. Basically, EGCG helps increase metabolism in the body reducing the oxidation process that causes fat cells in the body to be burned and turned into energy for the body to use. But we can’t get weight loss results by drinking 1 or 2 cups of tea a day while maintaining the consumption of junk food.
Many studies show that consuming large amounts of EGCG in combination with a healthy diet and an active lifestyle can lead to more dramatic weight loss results than not consuming EGCG at all.
EGCG helps fight free radicals and toxins in the body.
EGCG functions as a powerful antioxidant, thereby also renewing its anti-cancer effects.
EGCG helps fight free radicals and toxins in the body that are sources of cancer. EGCG helps get rid of them before they have a chance to destroy cells.
Free radicals are naturally unstable molecules that attack our bodies at the cellular level. They can cause healthy cells to become unstable, change through oxidation, just like food deforms and goes rancid in the refrigerator after a long time when it is no longer protected by the packaging. EGCG destroys these free radicals before they have a chance to destroy our cells thereby helping to prevent a wide range of different types of cancer.
Studies also show that EGCG can inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors, especially colon, stomach, breast and liver cancers. EGCG also has the ability to effectively kill cancer cells.
EGCG helps improve overall brain function. The experts concluded that EGCG helps promote the formation of new closed nerve cells in the brain through a process known as neurogenesis . This enhances cognitive function and helps improve short and long-term memory.
Besides, it also helps prevent neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. In the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain responsible for creating memories, EGCG helps stimulate the production and creation of new neurons, with significant benefits for the brain.