Tea is the world’s most popular beverage. All teas come from the same plant, Cameilla sinensis. Green Tea is the least processed of all teas, and is considered one of the healthiest drinks on the planet. The term “superfood” usually refers to nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and wellbeing, and Green Tea Extract is one of the top superfoods for this reason. 

Tea is widely known for a host of benefits from antioxidants to feelings of “zenergy” or “relaxed alertness”, “happy & clean energy”. Green Tea extract concentrates these benefits with more antioxidants, EGCG, and L-theanine than simply the tea leaves alone.

It helps people to relieve stress, increase mental energy and increase learning ability. 

The increased “relaxed alertness” allows people to be more productive with increased mental clarity and motivation.

Main benefits for Savvy:

• Green tea promotes improvements to memory, attention and learning
• Green tea promotes “zenergy”; improved mood, increased energy with decreased in stress and anxiety
• Green tea is a potent antioxidant with strong anti-inflammatory properties

To make it easy to identify all the different studies - we will highlight them for you!   

We really hope you enjoy our many years of research when formulating Savvy...

Benefit 1

Green tea promotes improvements to memory, attention and learning

Scientific sources:

Einother, S. et al. ‘l-Theanine and caffeine improve task switching but not intersensory attention or subjective alertness’ in Appetite, Volume 54, Issue 2, April 2010, pp 406-409 [Link]

“Tea ingredients l-theanine and caffeine have repeatedly been shown to deliver unique cognitive benefits when consumed in combination. he results support previous evidence that l-theanine and caffeine in combination can improve attention.”

Nathan, PJ. et al. ‘The neuropharmacology of L-theanine(N-ethyl-L-glutamine): a possible neuroprotective and cognitive enhancing agent.’ in Journal of herbal pharmacotherapy. Volume 6, Issue 2, 2006, pp 21-30 [Link]

“Behavioural studies in animals suggest improvement in learning and memory. Overall, L-theanine displays a neuropharmacology suggestive of a possible neuroprotective and cognitive enhancing agent”

Kaur, T, et al, ‘Effects of green tea extract on learning, memory, behavior and acetylcholinesterase activity in young and old male rats.’ in Brain and Cognition, Volume 67, Issue 1, June 2008, pp 25 - 30 [Link]

“Green tea extract significantly improved learning and memory in older rats, with increased retention latency to enter difference in passive avoidance test. In the elevated maze test, green tea treatment resulted in significantly more number of entries in the enclosed arm by the young and old rats.”

Wang, Y, et al, ‘Green tea epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) promotes neural progenitor cell proliferation and sonic hedgehog pathway activation during adult hippocampal neurogenesis.’ in Molecular nutrition and food research, Volume 56, Issue 8, August 2012, pp 1292 - 1303 [Link]

“We hypothesized that EGCG promotes adult neurogenesis, which may be beneficial to hippocampus-dependent learning and memory...Our results provide strong evidence that EGCG enhances adult hippocampal neurogenesis.”

Park, SK, et al, ‘A combination of green tea extract and l-theanine improves memory and attention in subjects with mild cognitive impairment: a double-blind placebo-controlled study.’ in Journal of medicinal food, Volume 14, Issue 4, pp 334 - 343. [Link]

“Brain theta waves, an indicator of cognitive alertness, were increased significantly in the temporal, frontal, parietal, and occipital areas after 3 hours in the eye-open and reading states. Therefore, this study suggests that [GTE and L-Theanine] LGNC-07 has potential as an intervention for cognitive improvement.”

Mancini, E. et al. ‘Green tea effects on cognition, mood and human brain function: A systematic review’ in Journal of Phytomedicine, Volume 34, October 2017, pp 26-37 [Link]

The above review assessed 21 studies, 4 of which were randomised controlled trials, 12 were cross-over studies, 4 were cross-sectional studies and one was a cohort study. They provided highly sufficient evidence of the benefits on memory, attention, and anxiety. The synergistic effects of the components of tea are greater than the sum of its parts.

“The reviewed studies presented evidence that green tea influences psychopathological symptoms (e.g. reduction of anxiety), cognition (e.g. benefits in memory and attention) and brain function (e.g. activation of working memory seen in functional MRI). The effects of green tea cannot be attributed to a single constituent of the beverage. This is exemplified in the finding that beneficial green tea effects on cognition are observed under the combined influence of both caffeine and l-theanine, whereas separate administration of either substance was found to have a lesser impact.”

Dietz, C. et al. ‘An intervention study on the effect of matcha tea, in drink and snack bar formats, on mood and cognitive performance’ in Food Research International. Volume 99, Part 1, September 2017, pp 72-83 [Link]

“...tea is gaining popularity throughout the world in recent years and is frequently referred to as a mood-and-brain food… After consuming the matcha products compared to placebo versions, there were mainly significant improvements in tasks measuring basic attention abilities and psychomotor speed in response to stimuli over a defined period of time.”

Higashiyama, A. et al. ‘Effects of l-theanine on attention and reaction time response’ in Journal of Functional Foods, Volume 3, Issue 3, July 2011, pp 171-178. [Link]

“The results demonstrate ...descending heart rate, elevated visual attentional performance, and improved reaction time response among high anxiety propensity subjects compared to a placebo... Results evidently demonstrated that l-theanine clearly has a pronounced effect on attention performance and reaction time response in normal healthy subjects prone to have high anxiety.”

Foxe, J. et al. ‘Assessing the effects of caffeine and theanine on the maintenance of vigilance during a sustained attention task’ in Journal of Neuropharmacology, Volume 62, Issue 7, June 2012, pp 2320-2327 [Link]

The above study evidences the prolonged attention matcha can provide with enhanced focus.

“When treated with placebo, participants showed a rise in error rates, a pattern that is commonly observed with increasing time-on-task, whereas after caffeine and theanine ingestion, error rates were significantly reduced.”

Scholey, A. et al. ‘Acute neurocognitive effects of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)’ in Appetite, Volume 58, Issue 2, April 2012, pp 767-770. [Link]

“In comparison to placebo the EGCG treatment also increased self-rated calmness and reduced self rated stress. This pattern of results suggests that participants in the EGCG condition may have been in a more relaxed and attentive state after consuming EGCG.”

Benefit 2

Green tea promotes “zenergy”; improved mood, increased energy with decreases in stress and anxiety

The energy from tea promotes feelings of relaxed alertness, as opposed to the negative side effects of caffeine that come from coffee or energy drinks.

Scientific sources:

Dulloo, AG. et al ‘Green tea and thermogenesis: interactions between catechin-polyphenols, caffeine and sympathetic activity’ in International Journal of Obesity, Volume 24, February 2000, pp 252-258 [Link]

“...the potential therapeutic value of green tea is well recognized, and currently, because it possesses outstanding anti-oxidant properties, its ability to confer a protective role against free-radical mediated diseases (including coronary heart disease and cancer) is an active area of medical research. According to current concepts, such anti-oxidizing effects, as well as its reportedly capillary-strengthening, anti-bacterial and antidepressane effects, are primarily attributed to its remarkable content of caffeine and catechin-polyphenols (notably EGCG)”

Stagg, G and Millin, D ‘The nutritional and therapeutic value of tea - a review’ in The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Volume 26, Issue 10, October 1975, pp 1436-1459 [Link]

The above review aptly explains why the energy from tea promotes feelings of relaxed alertness, as opposed to the negative side effects of caffeine that come from coffee or energy drinks.

“The pharmacological action of caffeine in tea is so modified, probably by its interaction with polyphenols, that the beneficial properties of the alkaloid may be enjoyed without harmful side effects. “

Some of matcha and green tea’s excellent benefits are due to the naturally occuring amino acid, L-Theanine.

Kimura, K. et al. ‘l-Theanine reduces psychological and physiological stress responses’ in Journal of Biological Psychology. Volume 74, Issue 1, January 2007, pp 39-45 [Link]

“Because the characteristics of l-Theanine suggest that it may influence psychological and physiological states under stress….the oral intake of l-Theanine could cause anti-stress effects via the inhibition of cortical neuron excitation.”

Figueira, M, ‘Chapter 3.41 - Tea Extracts’ in Nonvitamin and Nonmineral Nutritional Supplements, Academic Press, 2019, pp 433 - 436 [Link]

“The polyphenols are the most interesting group of compounds found in tea, specifically epigallocatechin gallate, because many of the biological activities of tea are associated with them. Several human and animal studies suggest that tea, namely green tea, has beneficial health effects.

Extracts of green tea are the most commonly used extracts for food supplements because they are comprised of the greatest amount of active compounds. The use of tea extracts as a food supplement can have great benefits if the amounts of active compounds are controlled and ingested in effective doses.”

Unno, K. et al. ‘Anti-stress effects of drinking green tea with lowered caffeine and enriched theanine, epigallocatechin and arginine on psychosocial stress induced adrenal hypertrophy in mice’ in Journal of Phytomedicine, Volume 23, Issue 12, November 2016, pp 1365-1374 [Link]

“These results suggest that drinking green tea exhibits anti-stress effects, where theanine, EGC and Arg cooperatively abolish the counter-effect of caffeine and EGCG on psychosocial stress induced adrenal hypertrophy in mice.”

Mancini, E. et al. ‘Green tea effects on cognition, mood and human brain function: A systematic review’ in Journal of Phytomedicine, Volume 34, October 2017, pp 26-37 [Link]

The above review assessed 21 studies, 4 of which were randomised controlled trials, 12 were cross-over studies, 4 were cross-sectional studies and one was a cohort study. They provided highly sufficient evidence of the benefits on memory, attention, and anxiety. The synergistic effects of the components of tea are greater than the sum of its parts.

“The reviewed studies presented evidence that green tea influences psychopathological symptoms (e.g. reduction of anxiety), cognition (e.g. benefits in memory and attention) and brain function (e.g. activation of working memory seen in functional MRI). The effects of green tea cannot be attributed to a single constituent of the beverage. This is exemplified in the finding that beneficial green tea effects on cognition are observed under the combined influence of both caffeine and l-theanine, whereas separate administration of either substance was found to have a lesser impact.”

Dietz, C. et al. ‘An intervention study on the effect of matcha tea, in drink and snack bar formats, on mood and cognitive performance’ in Food Research International. Volume 99, Part 1, September 2017, pp 72-83 [Link]

“...tea is gaining popularity throughout the world in recent years and is frequently referred to as a mood-and-brain food… After consuming the [tea] compared to placebo versions, there were mainly significant improvements in tasks measuring basic attention abilities and psychomotor speed in response to stimuli over a defined period of time.”

Unno, K. et al. ‘Anti-stress effect of theanine on students during pharmacy practice: Positive correlation among salivary α-amylase activity, trait anxiety and subjective stress’ in Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, Volume 111, October 2013, Pp 128-135 [Link]

“These results suggest that theanine intake had anti-stress effect on students.”

Scholey, A. et al. ‘Acute neurocognitive effects of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)’ in Appetite, Volume 58, Issue 2, April 2012, pp 767-770 [Link]

“In comparison to placebo the EGCG treatment also increased self-rated calmness and reduced self rated stress. This pattern of results suggests that participants in the EGCG condition may have been in a more relaxed and attentive state after consuming EGCG.”

Vignes, M, et al, ‘Anxiolytic properties of green tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).’ in Brain research, Volume 1110, Issue 1, September 2006, pp 102 - 115 [Link]

“Therefore, our data support that EGCG can induce anxiolytic activity which could result from an interaction with GABA(A) receptors.”

Benefit 3

Green tea is a potent antioxidant with strong anti-inflammatory properties

Green tea is an excellent source of powerful antioxidants.

Research has shown that oxidative damage from everyday life can lead to inflammation, which can lead to many diseases, including cancers. Antioxidants can help protect against oxidative damage with antioxidants.

Scientific sources:

Singh, BN. et al. ‘Green tea catechin, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG): mechanisms, perspectives and clinical applications.’ in Biochemical pharmacology. Volume 82, Issue 12, December 2011, pp 1807-1821 [Link]

“An expanding body of preclinical evidence suggests EGCG, the major catechin found in green tea (Camellia sinensis), has the potential to impact a variety of human diseases. Apparently, EGCG functions as a powerful antioxidant, preventing oxidative damage in healthy cells, but also as an antiangiogenic and antitumor agent and as a modulator of tumor cell response to chemotherapy...EGCG has great potential in cancer prevention because of its safety, low cost and bioavailability.”

Nathan, PJ. et al. ‘The neuropharmacology of L-theanine(N-ethyl-L-glutamine): a possible neuroprotective and cognitive enhancing agent.’ in Journal of herbal pharmacotherapy. Volume 6, Issue 2, 2006, pp 21-30 [Link]

“Behavioural studies in animals suggest improvement in learning and memory. Overall, L-theanine displays a neuropharmacology suggestive of a possible neuroprotective and cognitive enhancing agent”

Reuter, S, et al. ‘Oxidative stress, inflammation, and cancer: How are they linked?‘ in Free Radical Biology and Medicine. Volume 49, Issue 11, December 2010, pp 1603-1616 [Link]

“Overall, observations to date suggest that oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and cancer are closely linked.”

Ogunleye, AA, et al. ‘Green tea consumption and breast cancer risk or recurrence: a meta-analysis.’ in Breast Cancer research and treatment. Volume 119, Issue 2, January 2010, pp 477-48 [Link]