On the label, you should see the percentage of catechins an polyphenols that are in the extract. For example, the label might say 100mg or extract, 98% polyphenols, 80% catechins. The source of the supplement should be the camellia sinensis plant. Other than herbal teas, all teas come from this plant. To make the black varieties the leaves are oxidized. Oxidation changes the flavor and also greatly reduces the catechin content.

The supplement should not contain additional amounts of caffeine. Many of the green tea extract pills that are sold as weight loss, diet aids or fat burners contain lots of additional caffeine. If you don't drink any caffeinated beverages, that might be okay. But, if you do, you need to count up the total caffeine that you are consuming every day. If the supplement will put you over 500mg, don't take it.

Moderate caffeine intake is good for you, according to recent studies. But at amounts approaching or exceeding 500mg per day, it causes caffeinism. Symptoms are anxiety, nervousness, insomnia, and frequent urination.

If there are other ingredients in the product, you should do a little research and find out what those ingredients are good for. Are there any side effects? Do they interact with any medication that I am taking? Catechins are not known to cause any unwanted side effects, but one of them binds with an important cancer drug, rendering it therapeutically useless. If you are taking Velcade, don't take green tea extract pills.

Figuring out whether or not a supplement contains what it says it does and nothing else is a little more difficult. Most of the raw ingredients for these products come from China. Not all Chinese manufacturers are bad, but only about 2% are good. Finding out how a supplement company selects its raw ingredients can be difficult. If they have a website, start there.

An extremely low price is a dead give-away. Either the capsule is nothing but sawdust or the retailer decided to buy from one of the ?bad? sources. But, even high quality green tea extract pills are not the best thing that you can do for your health.

If you are like most people, you have a busy life. By the time that you finish working and taking care of all of your other responsibilities, you barely have time to eat. What you choose to eat is probably a convenience food. Even the healthy looking ones are not good sources of nutrients. Taking a good multi-nutritional supplement will make a huge difference in how you feel and maybe how you look. The best ones include essential vitamins, minerals and amino acids, as well as a variety of plant extracts. These supplements are a far better value for your money than green tea extract pills. Think about it, before you buy.