Only recently was the most abundant green tea polyphenol, epigallocatechin gallate, definitively shown to induce autophagy.11 Numerous recent studies confirm the polyphenol’s ability to induce both autophagic and apoptotic cell death in various cancers.12-15 EGCG has been found to increase available beclin 1, a protein encoded in an autophagy-related gene that plays a critical role in inducing autophagy and cell death in cancer cells.16 In a study of Alzheimer's disease (AD), EGCG was shown to increase the clearance of intracellular deposits of mis-shaped tau protein (molecular debris known to accumulate in the AD brain) through increasing the expression of two proteins involved with the autophagy response.17 Similarly, the nutrient was found to activate autophagic pathways through activation of the SIRT1 longevity gene to remove accumulated protein deposits and prevent nerve cell damage.18
In animal-based studies, oral doses of the green tea polyphenol given to mice infected with sepsis induced strong autophagic responses. The doses given were equivalent to those available to humans after only a few cups of tea.19 Using information from Murray20 and Phenol Explorer, a comprehensive European online database on polyphenol content in foods, we have determined that 2 cups of green tea would require the equivalent of 3.5 grams of dried leaf or 584 milligrams of standardized green tea extract. These values have been incorporated into the criterion for Healthy Aging.
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