Green tea and eyes

Green tea is widely promoted as a cure for every disease on earth. Anytime there is a health problem, the words “green tea” are always at the forefront. Some people think that green tea can even help solve the recession!

Now there is word that green tea extracts can reach the inner segments of the eye. Researchers claim that the high levels of green tea can protect the eye from a variety of disorders. The extracts in green tea that have been widely postulated to be protective include catechins. Researchers claim that catechins act like anti-oxidants and protect the delicate tissue of the eye from glaucoma, cataracts and infections of the eye.

In a recent study, rats were fed green tea and their eyes were analyzed for content of catechins. The study showed that high levels of catechins were found in the retina, which is the light sensing tissue at the back of the eye. And simply based on these rat studies the researchers claimed that green tea can protect the eye.

So what about the study?

This is another hog wash study.

Just because green tea extracts get into the eye does not mean that humans will not form cataracts or glaucoma. The Chinese, Asians and the Middle Easterners have been drinking gallons of green tea for thousands of years and yet these populations have the worst types of cataracts on earth.

For the consumer it is important to understand that green tea may be a great social beverage but its health benefits are exaggerated.

If green tea was a panacea for all health problems, then the Orientals would have been disease-free and this is clearly not the case.