Natural Standard's featured CE/CME for the month of July is Green tea: Safety & Effectiveness.
Green tea is made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to Southeast Asia. Both green tea and black tea are made from the same plant species. Green tea is produced by lightly steaming the leaves. Black tea is produced by allowing the leaves to ferment. Traditional health claims for green tea include improved urine flow, relief of joint pain and improved resistance to diseases.
Natural Standard offers CE/CME modules for multidisciplinary healthcare professionals. Students and other users may take courses for training purposes without generating credit certificates. Continuing Education requirements differ based on discipline, license and location. If you are unsure of your specific needs, please contact your local agency.
How interesting! Green tea has become very popular lately, yet I had no idea that it came from the same plant and just processed differently. I guess I just assumed they came from different leaves. Now if I could only learn to like tea without 3 teaspoons of sugar...
Posted by: SB | March 15, 2013 at 07:36 PM
A couple years back, I read in a fashion magazine an article that stated that a study done in Japan concluded that the consumption of green tea for two years would result in thicker hair and stimulate hair growth in people who were faced with hair loss. According to the NS database tradition and theory section hair growth is one of the uses of green tea. Quite interesting, however, there are no scientific evidence data to support this.
Posted by: J Squared | December 07, 2012 at 02:30 PM
In a coffee-driven society like America, it's hard to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea and relax. Many Chinese people drink black or green teas after meals. Traditional Chinese dishes have many high-fat foods, but the Chinese have a much longer life expectancy than Americans do. Maybe instead of picking up that coffee on the morning commute, I might pick up a green tea once in a while.
Posted by: Nancy | November 16, 2012 at 01:46 PM
I love green tea! My mom has always told me that its good for you but I never really considered that it had so many potential benefits. After seeing this blog posting, I went to the monograph for green tea and found that it has been studied for a benefit in all sorts of diseases! Some that surprised me were allergies, prevention of the common cold, and obesity.
Posted by: MAK | August 14, 2012 at 11:54 AM
It's nice to know that there are CE/CME options available for healthcare professionals who want to learn more about CAM therapies while still complete their individual CE/CME requirements. I will definitely keep this in mind for once I am a pharmacist to come back and listen to the extensive list of webinars and CE/CME options.
Posted by: AS | August 10, 2012 at 03:08 PM
I was really interested to see this post! My mom has been telling me for years about the benefits of green tea, she has tried to get me to drink it for the strangest of things. I believed her that in general, it may possibly have some health benefits, but was apprehensive to believe her to the point that it would make me want to drink it more often. I was surprised to see that after all, it does have some positive effects in certain ailments. I guess she is smarter than I give her credit for.
Posted by: MK | August 07, 2012 at 05:03 PM
I think it’s wonderful that Natural Standard has so many CE opportunities listed on the site. I found this one about Green Tea very interesting and was delighted to see that there are many, many more! I think the next one I want to view is "Cranberry: Safety & Effectiveness". This CE was very informative; I think the most surprising health benefit I saw was the beneficial link between green tea and genital warts.
Posted by: SL | August 07, 2012 at 04:17 PM
As soon as I finished reading this article, I was shocked that green tea and black tea actually had some healthcare benefits. I know I enjoyed drinking green tea and black tea, because it is so refreshing, but the fact that it helps with joint pain, urine flow, etc is amazing as well. I went onto the Natural Standard website and researched green and black tea, and much more information came up, and both teas are beneficial in other disease states such as asthma and genital warts. Natural Standards does a great job, on showing you how these daily herbal substances can be used to help lower or potentially treat diseases.
Posted by: ronak | August 03, 2012 at 01:30 PM
Being a green tea lover, I think this is a great opportunity for HCP to learn about all of the proven benefits of green tea. We have all heard that green tea is good for you and that is contains antioxidants, but why is it so good? I never really looked into the exact benefits of green tea until NS, but it is great to have a resource to go to for unbiased evidence based information on CAM products.
Posted by: AS | August 03, 2012 at 01:24 PM
Green tea is a favorite drink for me especially with a hint of citrus juice added. It would be great to get more information regarding green tea to know what benefits it has besides it anti-oxidant effects and weight loss effects. I’m really interesting in this CE/CME. I know that through the Natural Standard database there will useful information for green tea.
Posted by: UP | July 27, 2012 at 02:38 PM
It will be very interesting to see what happens to the quality of tea leaves as climate changes. There is already some research that the inherent chemical composition of the plant changes with a climate shift.
Hopefully it will retain its efficacy for various disease states.
Posted by: Charles | July 26, 2012 at 05:20 PM
Using the Food, Herbs, and Interactions database on Natural Standard, I found that green tea and black tea have different uses. The green tea has good evidence for genital warts and conflicting evidence on a lot of other indications. Black tea has conflicting evidence on a different set of uses. Its so interesting because green and black teas are made from the same plant.
Posted by: CHD | July 26, 2012 at 04:13 PM
As soon as I read this blog, I had to look up the Natural Standard Foods, Herbs, and Supplements monograph for Green Tea. I found over 20 disease states where there is a sufficient amount of scientific evidence for - not to mention the multitude of historical, common, or theoretical indications that people drink green tea for. Maybe I should be adding this to my morning routine!
Posted by: SMK | July 25, 2012 at 09:16 AM
All this time, and I never knew the true difference between green and black tea. I feel dumb for not even questioning it...haha. But I do know, that the both have a plethora of suggested health uses and the Natural Standard is a great resource to identify those specific proposed uses and not only investigates them by drudging through the evidence that is currently out there, but it also assigns a level of efficacy based on that level/amount of evidence.
It is great that the Natural Standard is offering Continuing Education encompassing this great herbal product.
Posted by: Scooby | July 24, 2012 at 03:43 PM
MN, you are right that everyone has heard of the benefits of green tea, but like you, I had never questioned its chemical function for these benefits (mechanism of action). The Natural Standard (NS) monograph satisfied my curiosity; the benefits of green tea are derived from it components (which are caffeine, polyphenols, trace elements and vitamins). To make a long story short, depending on the disease in question, it is one of these components that interferes with the chemical pathway for that disease or condition to progresss from one level to the next under laboratory situations (in vitro). If you want to check it out, go to the NS website, click on DATABASES, then FOODS, HERBS & SUPPLEMENTS, find GREEN TEA, then click on MECHANISM OF ACTION on the left. Have a great day!
Posted by: LindaB | July 24, 2012 at 11:04 AM
As the use of herbs is gaining popularity in Western society, it is only fair to increase its integration with modern medicine. Variously claims have been made concerning their important in strengthening the body to treating disease. As we all know, herbs encompass active substances that can trigger or worsen certain side effects. The also have the potential to interact with other herbs, supplements, or medications. For these reasons, people should take herbs with caution, under the supervision of a practitioner who is educated in the field of complementary alternative medicine. If you any of the following condition: anemia, diabetes, glaucoma, or osteoporosis always seek advice from your healthcare provider before indulging in green tea or taking an extract.
Posted by: Dobgima | July 23, 2012 at 01:33 PM
My mom has green tea every day. Now I can refer her this website or find more information for her to discuss green tea's health benefits and any other side effects we might need to worry about.
Posted by: DC | July 20, 2012 at 04:36 PM
What a timely CE! I just this morning saw green tea in the news, this time for skin benefits. I look forward to reviewing this material to stay up to date on the current research.
Posted by: E | July 20, 2012 at 11:26 AM
I have a new found interest in green tea, I started drinking it recently. I reviewed the green tea monograph and it received an evidence grade C for most conditions. There were also more adverse effects than I expected, many pertaining to its caffeine content. I’m interested to hear what the CE/CME says about the efficacy and safety profile. This will be my first Natural Standard CE/CME, does anyone have experience with the CE/CME’s produced by Natural Standard? I would love to learn more.
Posted by: CC | July 19, 2012 at 05:24 PM
Anecdotal speaking, I find that green tea is quite effective as an adjunctive supplement for various conditions such as weight loss and anxiety. I have also recently learned that green tea has anti-angiogenic properties and may help in the prevention of cancer! I feel that green tea is very pleasurable to consume. My favorite teas are usually purchased from Teavana--there are many flavor combinations you can try! Matcha green tea also boasts of being high in antioxidants and is a delicious additive to add to shakes and baked goods.
Posted by: MN | July 19, 2012 at 11:27 AM
Everyone knows that green tea is good for us. But what does it specifically do? A lot of patients know what green tea is but they don’t know why it’s beneficial. This is a great opportunity to educate health care providers (HCP) on the beneficial effect of green tea.
Posted by: PCO | July 19, 2012 at 10:09 AM
Green tea is one of my favorite beverages. There are so many varieties that there's bound to be one you enjoy! I cold-brew Chinese greens every once in a while. It's super easy: just add a few tablespoons of tea to 32 ounces of water and leave it in the fridge overnight.
Posted by: Charles | July 18, 2012 at 04:50 PM