It's been a while...

I have been on the road a bit which has kept me pretty busy. However, I continue to find interesting items particularly regarding the health benefits of green tea (think Matcha). This latest entry is focused a recent research article describing the positive benefits of on bone metabolism from the catechins found in green tea (h/t futurepundit).

From the press release, "The scientists exposed a group of cultured bone-forming cells (osteoblasts) to three major green tea components — epigallocatechin (EGC), gallocatechin (GC), and gallocatechin gallate (GCG) — for several days. They found that one in particular, EGC, boosted the activity of a key enzyme that promotes bone growth by up to 79 percent. EGC also significantly boosted levels of bone mineralization in the cells, which strengthens bones. The scientists also showed that high concentrations of ECG blocked the activity of a type of cell (osteoclast) that breaks down or weakens bones. The green tea components did not cause any toxic effects to the bone cells, they note." Interesting results that we will continue to track in future studies.

While green tea has received a great deal of attention due to it's demonstrated effect with weight loss (see another link here sent to me by Todd Smith) there is increasing evidence of other benefits from green tea. Now consider this, that Matcha is the highest quality and most nutrient rich green tea available.