Green Tea Boosts Immunity

A new study reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that Researchers have found a unique amino acid in green tea l that boosts the body’s immune defenses fivefold against disease. The chemical, known as L-Theanine, primes immune system cells to attack bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and even tumors.

Dr. Jack F. Bukowski of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School said that he and his co-authors isolated the chemical in the laboratory and then proved with a group of volunteers that it did protect against germs.

“ We worked out the molecular aspects of this tea component in the test tube and then tested it on a small number of people to see if it actually worked in human beings,” said Bukowski. The results, he said, gave clear proof that five cups of tea a day sharpened the body’s defenses against disease.

Bukowski said L-theanine is broken down in the liver to ethylamine, a molecule that primes the response of an immune blood cell called the gamma-delta T cell. “We know from other studies that these gamma-delta T cells in the blood are the first line of defense against many types of bacteria, viral, fungal and parasitic infections,” he said. “They even have some anti-tumor activity.”

The T cells prompt the secretion of interferon, a key part of the body’s chemical defense against infection. “We know from mouse studies that if you boost this part of the immune system it can protect against infection,” Bukowski said. To further test the finding, the researchers had 11 volunteers drink five cups a day of tea, and 10 others drink coffee. Before the test began, they drew blood samples from all 21 test subjects.

After four weeks, they took more blood from the tea drinkers and then exposed that blood to the bacteria called E-coli. Bukowski said the immune cells in the specimens secreted five times more interferon than did blood cells from the same subjects before the weeks of tea drinking. Blood tests and bacteria challenges showed there was no change in the interferon levels of the coffee drinkers, he said.

Research has shown that Theanine is also the constituent in green tea that is responsible for its relaxing properties. It enhances alpha wave production in the brain, which is considered to be the wave pattern of relaxation. Additionally, Theanine has been reported to moderate the effects of caffeine on the central nervous system. Its safety is supported in studies and by its long history of safe consumption by billions of tea drinkers in China and Japan.

Many other health benefits of green tea have been studied extensively over many years. It has been linked to lower heart disease and lower cancer risk through the action of its most prominent component known as flavonoids, that provide a very potent type of antioxidant. Other studies have linked tea to helping combat osteoporosis, the brittle bone disease, and to relieving symptoms of allergy.

Bukowski said it may be possible to further isolate and refine L-theanine from tea and use that as a drug to boost the infection defense of the body. The good news is, you don’t have to wait until some drug company patents a copy of the natural wonder, it is available today. It’s a natural component of green tea and can also be purchased as an individual extract.
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