Does Green Tea Help Fight Viruses?
Original title: COVID-19 / National Taiwan Normal University Research: Green tea extract can resist the new coronavirus! The key "catechin" works
During the epidemic, everyone is at risk. Apart from vaccines and drugs, what else can be used to fight the virus in daily life? The life science research team of National Taiwan Normal University found that the polyphenol catechin group extracted from green tea can inhibit the replication of coronavirus, strengthen the immune mechanism and improve acute lung injury. Tea is one of the drinks that the general public often drink. Now Zheng Jianting's research team has found that when the concentration of catechins reaches 195 micrograms per milliliter or more, it can effectively inhibit the replication of coronavirus. The paper was published in an internationally renowned journal in July this year. Antioxidants.
Catechin can inhibit the replication of new coronavirus. Why do catechins have such effects? The researchers speculate that because catechin can inhibit a "coronavirus replicase" that promotes virus replication and infection, similar applications can effectively prevent the virus from continuing to replicate and mutate. In addition, there are many catechin products on the market. high.
In addition, polyphenol catechins can effectively treat "lung injury" and reduce immune storm, etc., Dr. Yang Zhiqing, the author of the paper and former director of the Department of Internal Medicine and the Department of Nephrology of the Heping Hospital District of Taipei City United Hospital, said: "It is also common in foreign countries that even though two doses of the vaccine have been administered, there are still confirmed cases. I hope that taking catechins can provide enhanced immunity and resistance to fight against the new coronavirus.” The research team found that diagnosed patients tended to upregulate TLR-4 mediators of inflammatory signaling, similar to the sepsis pathway in which bacteria cause multiple organ failure. Therefore, the lipopolysaccharide-induced model was used to simulate the symptoms such as pneumonia, lung injury, immune storm and multiple organ failure caused by coronavirus in white mice. The autophagy mechanism and other functions can reduce the symptoms. The intake of catechins by drinking green tea may not be enough to suppress the virus!
Does that really work in humans? The data from human catechin group also shows that the immune-related CD8+ T cells can maintain a peak of 4 to 5 hours. The recommended total daily dose per person (50 kg person) is 2.5 grams per day, which can be divided into: 1.25 grams each time Using a gram of 0.83 grams for 2 times and using 0.83 grams each time for 3 times can obtain catechin concentrations of 239 μg/ml and 359 μg/ml respectively, which should be able to inhibit the replication ability of coronavirus in the human body. Zheng Jianting also reminded: "Although catechins can be ingested by drinking green tea, the dose may not be enough to inhibit the virus, and the catechin group used in the experiment was extracted through professional technology, and the caffeine has been removed. There are still differences.” He advised the general public: “At present, there are catechin health products approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the market, and they have been used in experiments for many times. Foods for adjunctive treatment of viruses.
There are so many catechins! It can also be anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antibacterial. Professor Wu Zhangzhe, director of the Department of Food Science of National Taiwan Ocean University, also pointed out: "Early research reports on catechins have confirmed that catechins have anti-influenza virus infection, and this study even found that catechins It has the ability to inhibit the replication of the coronavirus, can also reduce the inflammation of the lungs caused by the virus, and reduce the damage of the virus to the lungs, which will be of great help to the prevention and health care of the current COVID-19 epidemic.” Since the outbreak of SARS in 2003, Zheng Jianting has conducted research on catechins for more than 17 years and found that polyphenol catechins can have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antibacterial activities. In 2007, the research team used decaffeinated catechin group health food to conduct human clinical trials of anti-inflammatory and anti-angiosclerosis in kidney dialysis patients, and published it in the top American clinical nutrition journal "The Americam Journal of Clinical Nutrition" . Now that the global new crown epidemic is raging, the anti-coronavirus efficacy of the polyphenol catechin group has been verified again, and it can bind to the spine protein of the virus and successfully inhibit virus replication. Zheng Jianting said: "If it can be used for immediate prevention and treatment, or even developed into related drug candidates, it can reduce the risk and cost of use, and the development time is also very short, which just meets the needs of the shortage of vaccines and the urgency of the epidemic."
Original Article fro《Heho健康》