These teas show much promise as a convenient way to add valuable nutrients to our daily diet. In green and black tea the polyphenols give the tea its tart flavor. Catechin, Epicatechin, Epicatechin gallate, Epigallocatechin gallate and proanthocyanidins are some of the polyphenols found in green tea 1 .
Scientists are especially excited about the phenols' cancer-fighting properties.
They potentially defeat cancer by at least three mechanisms. First, they can shut off the formation of carcinogens, secondly they turn up the body's natural detoxification defenses, and finally they suppress cancer promotion. 2 Green tea polyphenols seem to increase the actions of a number of our detoxification enzymes including catalase and Glutathione per oxide. 3 Polyphenols are most abundant in green tea, but are also present in black tea. Both tea are made from the leaves of the same plant, Camellia sinensis, but each is dried differently giving different polyphenol contents.