Lack of Polyphenols Found in Bottled Tea

I guess there's no 'recommended daily allowance' as yet for polyphenol ingestion. It would be nice to know what amount one should shoot for in order to reap any prophylactic health benefits.

But I am comforted to know that it is present in wine, as well as in the other goodies you cite. Thanks, Jaxy.

There's been so much written about green tea polyphenols, you'd want to know which effect you're looking for before you go looking for dosage information for supplements. But the trouble with supplements (pills, capsules) is that, like the bottled tea, you can't count on them to contain what they claim. At least, that's what seems to be the case for a wide variety of products in the natural health category, according to what I've read.

I had a quick look for the 'how many cups of tea' approach, and found most of the studies suggested more tea drinking is better, as a preventative for various cancers:

esophageal cancer

lung cancer, if you don't smoke!

ovarian cancer

and this one on stomach cancer looked at the minute details of tea habits, finding that not just more, but more freshly brewed batches of tea had the best outcome. That seems to agree with the information Jaxy presented. A fresh brew seems to be key for maximum polyphenols.

Lapsang Souchong. Freshly brewed, not bottled (says 007). Honey to taste.

It has so many polys and phenols that it smells like Huberd's shoe grease, but it has the richest smoky flavor.

Why would anyone expect a processed, packaged product to provide the health benefits of the real, natural thing?

Hi Warner,

You are touched the point. When I was in China, I baught green tea for 640 yuan the 100 gram in a "tea shop' that offers tasting in a small cup prepared in front of the customer.

In another store I can acquire 100 for 20 yuan or less.

What's is the different?

All the best for the upcoming holidays, Gil.

Maybe the difference was just how gullible they thought the white guy was. Seen the same kind of thing when me and my friends would go down to mexico. Have some friends who look like they could be mexican, though they are middle eastern, and I am definitely of northern european descent. The mexicans would try to sell me stuff at way inflated prices and then joke about it in spanish, not realizing i could speak some spanish. They would try to sell my friends stuff at lower prices and not joke about it in spanish. If the salesmen thinks he can convince you to pay more he will charge you more.

Hi RCE,

In China, teashops are as "churches" here. Well respected! They offer products that people appreciate, drink, and buy at the same place again and again. Forget Mexico.

Chinese woman served me a few times don't want to sell you tea. She waits you buy from here because you found their offering during tasting was good or better than elsewhere. This is the difference between shopping in Mexico for something and China for tea.

Let me know the difference, Gil.

"When the tea bag is soaked in hot water, these compounds degrade and fade away."

So the way i read this a cup of hot tea isn't actually any good, since you have degraded all the polyphenols.

so is the only way to get polyphenols to brew sun tea (or does the solar uv degrade them also), or to eat tea raw.

I use hot but not boiling water as recommended on one package ... to maximize the benefits from honey, I add it to warm tea, not a hot cup of tea ... I read that tea is OK up to seven hours ... that may be an old information or it was true about that particular tea ... I do believe that more expensive tea makes a nicer cup for my company and me ... Jaan

Hmm considering that honey is about 99% sugar and about the same sugar composition as high fructose corn syrup, what benefits are you seeking?

Hi RCE,

We all understand that it's the end of the year, the pressure is going up and above, and we cannot control ourself when we talk.

However, the tea problem is the question here. In China, I saw that the best and most tasty teas were containing flowers of jasmine for example and small quantity of leafs, and were expensive compared to leafs filled tea. I have a small jasmine tea flower that fill the teapot completely when is wet with hot water. Othet thing, birds and insects love flower better then leaf. This is the reason why? The flowers contain high level of polyphenols and not the leafs or less. Someone need to confirm this by analyzing leafs and flower from the same tea plant.

Seasons Greetings for everyone, Gil.

You know what birds and insect love even more than the flowers is fruit, especially if it has fallen to the ground and rotting. I suspect it has to do with the sugars, and well sometimes the alcohol. It is hard for bees to make honey, if they can not get to the nectar the plants have evolved to attract bees and some bird (this is to promote pollination). Other plants may generate odors like rotting meat to attract insects for pollination. The flowers are reproductive organs. the leaves on the other hand not reproductive organs thus don't need the tricks to attract mobile creatures to help perform pollination in the leaves (besides such attractants in the leaves might detract the pollinators away from the reproductive organs of the plant, as there was another alternative). Also bear in mind, you find a lot more insects associated with rotting/decaying materials. I would not use birds and insects as an indicator, else you might end up being served feces or rotten fish in warm water.

Interestingly, chemical analysis for plant nutrients in plant tissues was part of my undergraduate thesis work. The biochemical make up of plants will vary not just from the flowers and leaves, but actually varies from leaf to leaf, even in simple elements such as sodium. The variations can be based in part on the age of the leaf, and polyphenols are a huge group of chemical compounds, some of which may be suspected carcinogens or toxins. You should focus on a specific set of polyphenolic compounds that you have substantiated as supporting health. You are likely to find one polyphenolic is higher in one tissue and another is higher in another tissue.

Hi RCE,

Happy New Year to you and all yours!

Thanks for the good response and for the suggestion of "making advertising through pollination". This is an excellent idea!

I am curious to know what contains more polyphenols the leafs or the flowers in case of the tea? If you have some information about, let me know. Thanks again, Gil.

Polyphenols is a marketing ploy usings a very generic organic chemical terminology for a class of organic compounds. Some Polyphenolic compounds make exceptional carcinogens and toxins. You will find different types of polyphenolic compounds in different concentrations across a plant at various times of the year and life cycle of the plant.

Copied from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey

Excessive heat can have detrimental effects on the nutritional value of honey. Heating up to 37°C (98.6°F) causes loss of nearly 200 components, some of which are antibacterial. Heating up to 40°C (104°F) destroys invertase, an important enzyme. At 50°C (122°F), the honey sugars caramelize. Generally any large temperature fluctuation causes decay.

Jaan

Hi RCE,

Real tea is never packed in a bag. You buy in bulk, 100, 200, ..., 500 grams at a time.

Bags are made for business and profits. Grass, yes, ordinary grass and some flower to taste better will also do the trick. Are you kidding? Tea-bag doesn't contain any polyphenols or similar chemicals.

I go to sip a real JASMINE TEA, imported from FoShan, GuangDong, PR of China, Gil.

NB: My cup is full of the flower, without sugar, as is, delicious!!!