Green Tea For Food Poisoning

Question: Did you know that green tea can be used as an aid against food poisoning?

Food poisoning is never pleasant. It causes health problems including diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain and dehydration. Although the symptoms are usually temporary and bother you for a few days, in the worst case, can be fatal. We get food poisoning from food contaminated with bacteria as a result of improper cooking, improper storage as well as poor hygiene. Warm and humid weather also increase the risk of food poisoning. Extra care must be taken for young children and the elderly as they are especially vulnerable in case of food poisoning.

In order to overcome the fear of getting food poisoning, a possible solution has emerged after researches for the last few decades. Catechin in green tea, a main component of its astringent taste has been proven to have a powerful bactericidal effect. Catechin, a type of polyphenol kills harmful bacteria, which causes food poisoning.

For instance, the research group of Showa University in Japan reported that a million of the virulent bacterium called E.coil O157 died out after bred in one cc of green tea at the same strength as your cup of tea for five hours. They also found that green tea catechin is effective to destroy various types of bacteria such as Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria, which is a cause of 40 % of food poisoning and Vibrio cholerae. The UK tea council reported that catechin in green tea has antibacterial activity against bacillus cereus. Another study concluded that the green tea catechin also suppress growth of Salmorella. The study revealed that catechin is prone to adhere to proteins and thus hinders bacteria from sticking to the surface of food. It not only kills bacteria but the catechin also destroys the toxins caused by those bacteria.

An interesting thing to note is that traditionally, sushi restaurants in Japan offer loose leaf green tea called agari in the end of the meal. It was not only because green tea goes well with raw fish, but also because green tea leaves freshly brewed in tea pots produce more catechin than green tea in tea bags. Sencha, the most commonly served with sushi contains most catechin among other types of green tea at 15%. Then Banch includes 13% and Gyokuro contains least at 10%. It seems that the Japanese ancestors may have known the antibacterial ability of green tea empirically.

By the way, wasabi is also known to have antibacterial activity in its pungent oil produced when finely grated. So, sushi, that is raw fish is practically defended by wasabi and green tea from evil bacteria. Talk about a great combination!

While black tea and oolong tea are fermented, green tea is unprocessed and made of fresh leaves and thus germicidal property in catechin remains less oxidised. Organic green tea is especially abundant in beneficial catehin because it is grown in natural like environment, free from agri-chemcals and fertiliser, getting a lot of sunshine.

Here is another things worth to note is that green tea is also effective in preventing cavities. The active ingredients kill the bacteria that forms plaque and cause bad breath ( doesn't this sound like a toothpaste ad? ), green tea contains fluorine commonly used as tooth paste. The fluorine prevents the acid erosion and strengthen teeth.

In conclusion, drinking green tea regularly can protect us from coming down with nasty food poisoning. If you want to avoid medicinal antibiotics, then organic green tea may be an alternative instrument to deter food poisoning. Thankfully, you can find quality organic loose tea online these days. Take care for now.

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