According to the latest research, the antioxidants in the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant may help reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer. It may help you achieve healthy cholesterol levels and blood sugar levels. It might help you lose some inches from around your waist and burn more calories. The strongest evidence lies in the areas of heart disease and cancer, although the results of clinical research have at times been contradictory.



For example, one study found a 26% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, but no reduced risk of mortality due to cancer. But, that's a little different than a reduced ?incidence? of cancer. One study showed a 50% lower risk of stomach cancer among regular green tea drinkers.

Using these studies to estimate the correct green tea dosage is difficult, if not impossible. Most of them followed people that drank five or more cups every day. The active components of the tea leaves are believed to be gallic acid and catechins. The amount of these antioxidants that is present in a cup varies greatly. That's why many scientists say that the studies are not ?well designed?.

In a well designed study, the antioxidant content would be measured and controlled. One such study was conducted at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Volunteers with unhealthy cholesterol levels were given either a placebo or 375mg green tea dosage every day for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, those participants that had taken the extract had significantly lower LDL (bad) and total cholesterol levels than those given placebo. The average reduction in LDL cholesterol was 16.4%.

Some scientists would still say that this study was not well designed, because the participants? diets were not controlled. Actually, the amount of cholesterol in a person's diet accounts for only 25% of the cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream. The rest is produced by the liver. In other words, diet is only a small factor.

According to nutritionists and doctors of naturopathic medicine, the appropriate green tea dosage for a person that is in relatively good health is 50-100mg per day. For a person with diabetes, the recommended daily dose goes up to 500mg per day, but they recommend a number of other nutrients for that condition, including quercetin, rutin, milk thistle and bitter melon.

For everyone else, they recommend increasing your nutrient intake by taking a good supplement that includes essential vitamins, minerals and amino acids, as well as a variety of different extracts. They make this recommendation, because most people do not get enough nutrients in their diets. They get lots of empty calories, but their nutritional intake is inadequate for even moderately good health. The best supplements contain an appropriate green tea dosage, along with more than 70 other nutrients that support your efforts to live a longer, healthier life.