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Green Tea Deters Food Poisoning
It has long been known from experience that
green tea has the ability to kill bacteria. Consumption of strong green tea, for
example, is often recommended as a good treatment for diarrhea.
Dr. Hara(#13) has shown in his research that catechin is a powerful sterilizing
agent for many types of bacteria that cause food poisoning. He checked the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC,
ppm) of green tea
catechin necessary to stop the growth of various types of food poisoning
bacteria and found that (a) Staphylococcus aureus, (b) Vibrio
parahaemolyticus, (c) Clostridium peifringens, (d)Bacillus cereus,
(e) Plesiomonas shigelloides, (f) Aeromonas sobria and (g)Clostridium
botulinum cannot grow in the 1/10 1/2 of 0.1% of catechin in the green tea
normally drunk by the Japanese people. But even fairly high concentrations of
catechin had no negative effect on the bifidtcs bacillus, which is necessary ~
for proper functioning of the intestinal tract. In addition to this evidence,
Prof. Shimamura(#14) has reported that green tea is a very strong sterilant of cholera
vibrio and has a strong antitoxic effect on toxins produced by bacteria
other than cholera.
These results indicate the antibacterial function of green tea catechin and
suggest that it may be effective in preventing food poisoning. Every year
throughout the world there are countless incidents of food poisoning.
Wouldn't it been a good idea, given these facts, to enjoy one's meals with
several cups of green tea?
(#13) Y. Hara and T. Ishigami, Nippon Shokuhin Kogyo Gakkaishi, 36,
996 (1989). (#14) T. Shimamura et al.. Jpn. f.Bacteriol., 44, 669 (1989).
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