We all know that drinking green tea is good for our bodies and our overall wellbeing. It’s an age-old ritual to aid digestion and fight disease. But did you know that drinking green tea might be a tool to combat aging? Nothing has as many free-radical fighting catechins as green tea. You’d have to eat many bars of chocolate or drink a lot of wine to catch up.

The anti-aging benefits of green tea

Research from China shows people who drink tea regularly may have biologically younger cells than non-tea drinkers.

Here’s how it works:

  • As our cells replicate and age, the DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes, called telomeres, shorten.
  • But the “anti-oxidative properties of tea and its constituent nutrients may protect telomeres from oxidative damage in the normal aging process, according to the study.
  • Water-extractable polyphenols that exist in tea are the powerful antioxidants that hunt down free radicals in your body.
  • In tea, these polyphenols exist as a series of chemicals called catechins. Catechins hold all the potent antioxidant and disease-fighting properties.
  • There are five different types of catechins, but the mightiest of all is epigallocatechin gallate or EGCg for short.
  • Even more encouraging is that the average difference in the telomere length between tea drinkers and non-tea drinkers corresponds to “approximately a difference of 5 years of lie,” according to the researchers.

Just year before, Dr. Stephen Hsu, a cell biologist one researcher who contributed to these exciting discoveries about green tea. He was credited for helping to determine that the polyphenols in green tea may neutralize free radicals, known to damage DNA and open the door to disease. When this Doctor Hsu and his colleagues examined the most abundant polyphenol in green tea- EGCg, mentioned above, they discovered that EGCg had a powerful effect on the skin. Specifically, the research team confirmed that EGCg could help to reactivate dying skin cells at the surface.

When it comes to the beauty and the health of the skin, Dr. Hsu’s findings were profound. Dr. Hsu suggested that green tea’s rejuvenating effect could help to soothe chronic skin conditions like rosacea and psoriasis, while improving aging and wrinkled skin.

In addition to Dr. Hsu’s research, count this as yet another plus on green tea’s skin renewal list. A 2003 study published in current drug targets- immune, endocrine & metabolic disorders confirmed that the photoprotective polyphenols in green tea could prevent skin damage caused by sun exposure, including photoaging.