Green tea is growing in popularity as much for its taste as for its health benefits. This refreshing tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, just as black tea does, but is less oxidized, meaning it retains more of its healthy catechins. Animals and some human studies show that drinking green tea could reduce the risk of heart disease, stimulate weight loss, and even reduce the risk of certain types of cancer. No wonder this drink has taken off with a thirsty, health conscious public!  Even though green tea has some pretty amazing health benefits, a new study suggests that there may be a way to make green tea even healthier.

A Way to Make Green Tea Healthier?

In an article published in the journal Food Research International, researchers found that adding sucrose, or simple table sugar, and vitamin C to green tea increased absorption of the catechins EGC and EGCG. In fact, when these compounds were added to green tea, catechin absorption increased by up to three times. Catechins, particularly EGCG, are the compounds in green tea that are believed to give it its health benefits. Adding table sugar and vitamin C may be simple ways to make green tea healthier by increasing the absorption of the natural catechins already present in green tea.

Make Green Tea Healthier With Table Sugar?

Sucrose, or table sugar, has been given a bad rap recently for its role in making young soft drink drinkers fat. This study shows that table sugar may actually have some benefits, at least when it comes to making green tea healthier. Because adding vitamin C to a cup of green tea may not be practical, a good substitute is lemon juice which is also high in vitamin C. A recent study showed that adding lemon juice to green tea increases the absorption of catechins, making a cup of green tea healthier. Citrus juices such as lemon juice were found to increase catechin absorption by up to five times. Orange juice and the juice of a lime would also be good additions to a cup of green tea.

Although adding table sugar could make for a healthier green tea in one sense, too much sucrose could lead to weight gain. Studies have shown that most Americans consume too many calories from sugar sweetened drinks throughout the day which may be contributing to the obesity epidemic. For this reason, it’s best to go light on the sugar and use citrus juice instead to make a cup of green tea healthier.

The Bottom Line

Green tea is a healthy drink that can be made even healthier by adding table sugar and citrus juice – but go light on the sugar. However you choose to drink it, it’s a great substitute for soft drinks and could help win the battle against the ever expanding American waistline.

Filed under: Fitness

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