Add tea to your Thanksgiving: Green tea prevents flu in children

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm posting this first thing in the morning so that you can make a slight modification to your Thanksgiving menu. Consider adding green tea alongside your eggnog. If you don't like drinking green tea, there are plenty of recipes, like Green Tea Lime Pie or Green Tea Cake. It might seem a bit much to make a new recipe this late in your feast preparations, but think of all the available family sous chefs you could put to work.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, green tea can help fight the flu. I just came across information on another study: Green Tea Consumption Is Inversely Associated with the Incidence of Influenza Infection among Schoolchildren in a Tea Plantation Area of Japan. How's that for a catchy title?

This study explored whether school-age children (6-13 years old) who regularly drank green tea would have fewer cases of influenza. For four months, during flu season, 2,050 children participated in the study. Those who drank green tea approximately five times per week had significantly fewer cases of flu compared to those who drank almost no green tea. Those who drank the most green tea (about one cup per day) also had significantly fewer sick days.

Less time being sick is certainly a good thing, particularly around the holidays. I think I'll see if my son would like to join me in a cup of the decaf mango green tea that I have at home.

Homeopathic flu remedies top the list of "12 Things You Should Stop Buying Now"

Here's an interesting flu tidbit that caught my eye today. Homeopathic flu remedies top the TIME's list of "12 Things You should Stop Buying Now." The CDC's recommendations on Preventing Sesional Flu Illness includes the following statement: "There is no scientific evidence that any herbal, homeopathic or other folk remedies have any benefit against influenza."

While I don't know if green tea is used in homeopathic remedies, I believe that the studies are focusing on tea as a preventative versus a treatment. If nothing else, drinking tea can lend a certain comfort factor to help you feel better. That said, I wonder if the ongoing research into green tea as a flu preventative will be included in future recommendations.

Meanwhile, it would certainly be worth your time to review the CDC's guide on Good Health Habits for Preventing Seasonal Flu.

Green tea can help fight the flu

A list of ways to avoid the flu: get the flu shot, wash your hands, cover your cough, eat healthy, drink green tea.... What?

Yes, drinking green tea can help fight strains of influenza that vaccines miss. Green tea accounts for only 20 percent of world tea consumption, but it has many health benefits. Green tea is produced by pan-frying or steaming the leaves of Camellia sinensis, to inactivate an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase. This process preserves the molecules epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG), and epicatechin (EC), which are collectively called catechins and are powerful antioxidants. A typical cup of green tea contains approximately 200 to 300 mg of catechins. Black tea, which accounts for 78 percent of world tea consumption, is produced from leaves of the same plant; however, its different preparation process causes oxidation and polymerization of the catechins.

A study on the effects of green tea catechins plus theanine—another tea component—on healthcare workers exposed to the influenza virus, was performed by Dr. Keiji Matsumoto and colleagues at the University of Shizuoka, Japan. From November 2009 to April 2010, 98 workers were assigned to the catechin/theanine group and 99 were assigned to the placebo group. All worked with elderly patients, and 92.9 percent were vaccinated against influenza. The catechins and theanine were supplied in capsules that provided a 378 mg catechins and 210 mg theanine per day.

The catechin/theanine group had significantly fewer cases of flu than the placebo group—four cases in the catechin/theanine group and 16 cases in the placebo group. Flu was diagnosed as fever plus any two of the following symptoms: cough, sore throat, headache, muscle aches.

Even as an ardent tea fan, I tend to drink green tea only about once a week. I plan to add it into my rotation more frequently, though it sounds like a daily dose would be ideal. This is the perfect excuse to try making Tea Jelly with green tea or baking the even more decadent Green Tea Cake.

Teens Find Weeds in Tea

Combine science and tea and you have my immediate attention. Three teenage tea researchers used DNA testing to sleuth out the componants of one of the worlds' most popular beverage—tea. Mark me down as one of the more ardent tea fans.

Catherine Gamble, 18, Rohan Kirpekar, 18, and Grace Young, 15, tested commercially available teas using genetic analysis to find the DNA signatures of plants as part of the TeaBOL: Tea Barcode of Life Project. The young scientists tested 70 true teas (those that contain the leaves of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis). Of those, only a marginal 4 percent contained plants not listed on the labeling. However, the herbal infusions (tsanes) had unlisted plants in 21 of the 60 samples tested. In sum, 146 products from 33 different manufacturers were tested. The products came from 17 different countries.

Contamination in real teas is rare because they are cupped (taste tested) frequently. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for herbal infusions. This is a concern because of allergies and other health issues.

For example, a bag labeled "St. John's Wart" contained a type of fern. Those drinking herbal blends to avoid caffinee may want to look for a caffiene-free label; four of the "herbal" ifusions contained real tea leaves, Camellia sinensis, which naturally has a low level of caffiene.

Some of the other stow away plants found were:

• chamomile (Matricaria recutita) – an herb
• white goosefoot (Chenopodium album) – a common weed
• red bartsia (Odontites vernus) – a common weed
• bluegrass (Poa annua) – meadow grass
• lantana (Lantana spp.) – a garden flower
• Taiwanese cheesewood (Pittosporum pentandrum) – an ornamental tree
• alfalfa (Medicago sativa) – a flowering grass
• lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) – an herb
• heal-all (Prunella vulgaris) – an herb
• blackberry (Rubus spp.) – a fruit
• papaya (Carica papaya) – a fruit

The young scientists also discovered unexpected genetic differences in teas from different areas. This surprising finding is exciting. The broad-leaf “assamica” tea exported from India and small-leaf “sinensis” variety tea exported from China, had new genetic differences scientists in this field of research had never seen.

How did the teens do it? They found high tech equipment for a low cost by purchasing used lab equipment on the internet for less than $5,000. They set up their genetic lab on the dining room table of their mentor, Mark Stoekle, adjunct faculty member with the Program for the Human Environment at Rockefeller University. Genetic samples extracted were sent for analysis at a commercial DNA sequencing facility.

You can read the full results of this tea study in the Nature journal Scientific Reports. Personally, I find this kind of involvement by teens in research to be not only exciting but also promising for the future of science.

Now, pardon me, but all this tea talk has made me thirsty. Time to go brew a cup of my favorite Chocolate Chip flavored black tea.