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Tealife | Green Tea Catechin (EGCG) most effective for corona virus

Tealife | Green Tea Catechin (EGCG) most effective for corona virus

Posted by Yuki on 14th Aug 2020

The burgeoning spread of Covid-19 corona virus has seen no end, and is becoming an increasingly problematic issue effecting our lives at every level.

This virus has impacted us, our families and friends, our jobs and schools, and all our other social activities. There really isn’t a single person it hasn’t effected. It’s a devastating situation.
 
There is no end-of-the-tunnel to this problem for a while. We all know that. We must learn to survive.
 
So what can we do?
 
I say - "Let's drink Japanese green tea!"

Research: Catechin found in Japanese Green Tea (EGCG) most effective for corona virus

A computational research on the effectiveness of EGCG on corona virus

It may sound too convenient for this to come from an evangelist of Japanese tea like myself, but before you hit the back button on your browser, I’d like you to know that there are some intriguing evidence in some research conducted on this topic.
 
So in a nutshell, based on this study, some researchers concluded that out of 18 natural dietary substances and 2 drugs which are currently being used to treat the disease, the Catechin found in Green Tea (EGCG) was the most effective in deactivating the coronavirus.

Incredible, isn't it!?

This research was conducted by Mohammad Faheem Khan, Mohsin Ali Khan, Zaw Ali Khan, Tanveer Ahamad, and Waseem Ahmad Ansari, whom are Indian researchers from Era' Lucknow medical College in March of 2020.

Here are some bullet points of the study.

Research Points - 1

  • evaluated 18 active constituents with antiviral characteristics. (epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), piperine, apigenin, curcumin, gingerol-[6], beta glucan, resveratrol, myricetin, quercetin, genistein, diadzein, alliin, allicin, sulphoraphane, phycocyanobillin, ferulic acid and alpha lipoic acid)
  • evaluated 2 FDA approved drugs used in COVID 19. (Remdesivir and Chloroquine)
  • Among all (including the drugs) epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the lead compound that could fit well into the binding sites of docked proteins of SARS-CoV-2.

This is saying that EGCG has the greatest effectiveness in terms of binding with the binding sites of the spike proteins of the corona virus. If the EGCG binds with the virus, it will disable the virus' ability to bind to the human host cell and replicate.

Furthermore....

Research Points - 2

  • 7 of the top binding proteins were test against each of these substances. (6lu7, 6lvn, 6lxt, 6vsb, 6vw1, 6vww and 6y2e)
  • EGCG showed highest effectiveness for all 7 of these target proteins.

Yes, this is some powerful results. These are copied from the research itself.

Is this research conclusive?
 
No, it is not. This is still a preliminary report that must undergo peer review.
This is also a computational research, using models to see if the binding sites of the proteins match the molecule shapes of the substances.
The next steps will include actual experiments. However, it does show strong support for the possibility of EGCG being a great combat for corona virus.

Now that you're interested, what exactly is EGCG?

What is EGCG?

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a type of catechin most abundantly found in green tea.
It is arguably most abundant in Japanese tea, as the steaming to stop oxidation helps preserve the EGCG compared to roasting.

Yes, EGCG is the major Catechin component that can be found the most in Japanese Green tea!

By drinking green tea regularly, there is a possibility that we can combat corona virus.

I feel that this could be one of the reasons behind the extremely low mortality rate of this virus in Japan.

What exactly should I drink?

The best way to get any nutrient is via Matcha. It allows for people to consume the most nutrients, as you directly intake the powdered tea leaves.

It is also said that the "Shaded" tea contain more EGCG. Matcha is a shaded tea, so checks this criteria well. Gyokuro is another shaded leaf which you can absorb high levels of nutrients.

Japanese Matcha will allow you to abosorb the most EGCG

But drinking several cups of Matcha per day is actually quite tough. It may become too strong, especially with the amount of caffeine it contains.

As a tea you drink often, I'd go back to recommending the basic Sencha or Bancha. (It's good from a economic perspective as well)

There are some of these tea in the Tealife shop as well. Please take a look.

Take some EGCG - Take a look at some of our tea.

About the Author: Yuki

Yuki is a Japanese tea enthusiast living in Singapore. He takes a few hours each week sharing about his passion to locals and also helping Tealife SG. Still a beginner in writing, it requires him about 10 cups of tea before finishing a post. His day job is in the healthcare IT domain.

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