Graen tea acts as a functional food

Green tea acts as a functional food

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Green tea acts as a functional food

Discussions of food normally were focussed on its nutritional content and its flavor. Recently, however, more attention is being paid to the role of food in bio-regulating functions. Foods that possess this regulatory function are called "functional food." Dr. Inaba 20) classifies food by function as shown in Table 9. If we classify green tea and green tea catechin according to this table, they possess the following functions : (1) bio-defensing function by preventing cancer through fortification of the immune system, (2) disease-preventing function by preventing high blood pressure or diabetes, (3) disease-recovery function by inhibiting the rise of cholesterol, (4) physical rhythm-controlling function by stimulating the central nervous system with caffeine and (5) aging-suppressing function by providing the body with antioxidants. Green tea is, therefore, rich in possibilities as a functional food and should prove a popular beverage among the new health conscious generation.

Green tea, with its sweet aroma and eternally fresh taste, has been loved and continuously drunk since its introduction to japan centuries ago. But modern research has finally started to remove the veil concealing some of its true power as a functional food. Green tea is truly a "miraculous medicine" with an "extraordinary power to prolong life."

Table 9
Classification of Functional Food

Functional Food	(Function)	(Type)
	Bio-defensing function	Allergy reducting food Immuno - activating food * Lymphatic system - enhancing food
	Disease-preventing function	High blood pressure-preventing food * Diabetes - preventing food * Congenital metabolic disorder - preventing food Antitumor food *
	Disease-recovery function	Cholesterol - controlling food * Blood platelet aggregation - preventing food Hematosis - adjusting foodX
	Physical rhythm controlling function	Central nervous system - stimulating food * Peripheral nervous system - stimulating food * Food intake - regulating food Absorptive function - regulating food *
	Aging-suppressing function	Lipid peroxide formation - controlling food *

* An asterisk marks a function for which tea is particularly efficacious.

20) H. inaba, Food Chemicals,4 (No. 1), 33 (1988) .

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Green tea acts as a functional food

Table 9 Classification of Functional Food

Table 9
Classification of Functional Food