Lately there has been a lot of talk about green tea and its superior antioxidant abilities or effects. Numerous products are now hitting the shelves from vitamins to nail polish treatments all with hints of green tea advertised all over them. The question though is can green tea really reverse the aging process?

Many scientists and doctors are currently researching this perplexing situation. It is well believed that green tea has antioxidant polyphenols like ECGC that do display the ability to ward off and even retard certain cancers and precancers like actinic keratoses.

I have to say certain cancers because only a few types of cancers have been scientifically tested to date. This is due to the continuously growing astronomical costs of medical research and the fact that this sort of testing takes years before results are accepted as proven. Many stages of research will also be required before much human testing can be done.

From the current research, though we can elucidate that green tea has remarkable antioxidant properties and has been proven to prevent and retard mouth and laryngeal cancers. This is due to the fact that the polyphenols contained in green tea inhibit the free radicals produced by cellular activities and environmental damage (like from UV radiation). These free radicals when left on their own actually cause aging.

Various antioxidants from fruits like Goji and acai berries, blueberries and grapes to black, white and green teas have been found to exhibit excellent abilities in slowing down or stopping the damage caused by these free radicals.

Only one antioxidant, however, has actually been proven to reverse free radical damage, the polyphenols of green tea. Some people say that to experience the great antioxidant and free radical quelshing properties of green tea that one must drink large, copious and unrealistic amounts. This is not true.

In one experiment it was shown that just chewing the leaves has the ability to ward off and reverse or retard oral cancer. In another experiment in Japan a salve was prepared from minced green tea leaves and applied to patients that were burned from radiation exposure. The salve was found to promote healing, reduce scarring and retard cancerous and precancerous cellular growth.

That should be enough to state that green tea does exhibit great antioxidant abilities and that since free radicals are what bring on the aging process that green tea polyphenols like ECGC can inhibit these free radicals and quite possibly inhibit the aging process. There is even a story of a Chinese herbalist whom lived 252 years because they ate Goji berries every day. Goji berries are revered for their high levels of antioxidants.

Now, since this story cannot be proven and is just lore we cannot accept that as fact, but green tea has one of the highest levels of antioxidants of any natural food or supplement and therefore should be seen as a great antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-aging treatment with great potential whether it be in the form of hot tea, leaves for chewing, or a salve for exterior application.