Green Tea- an Inflammation Suppressor?

Green tea may help prevent autoimmune diseases is the title of the linked article indicating that a diet, which includes green tea, may inhibit inflammation resulting from autoimmune disorders. Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia produced the data associated with the related study.

Researchers gave one group, afflicted with Sjogren’s Syndrome, water and another a green tea extract. Sjogren’s Syndrome induces the body to attack its own salivary and lacrimal glands. The green tea group suffered significantly less glandular damage. A protein group, known as TNF-alpha, kills salivary and lacrimal gland cells but a substance in green tea, labeled EGCG, appears to somehow alter the regulatory mechanisms affecting TNF-alpha proteins. Further research is needed to determine how this occurs. But the good news is that consumption of green tea seems to ameliorate the effects of Sjogren’s Syndrome.