People under mental stress may promote psychological well-being by consuming green tea
Green tea is rich in catechins, an antioxidant compound, and contains high levels of EGCG, a polyphenol that has been previously found to reduce levels of oxidizing compounds that contribute to physical and mental fatigue. Atsushi Hozawa, from Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine (Japan), and colleagues analyzed data relating to tea consumption, psychological distress, and lifestyle factors collected on 42,093 Japanese men and women, ages 40 years and older. Finding that 6.6% of the study population suffered from psychological stress, the researchers determined that those who drank five cups of green tea daily reduced their levels of psychological distress by 20%.
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Atsushi Hozawa, Shinichi Kuriyama, Naoki Nakaya, Kaori Ohmori-Matsuda, Masako Kakizaki, Toshimasa Sone, Masato Nagai, Yumi Sugawara, Akemi Nitta, Yasutake Tomata, Kaijun Niu, and Ichiro Tsuji. “Green tea consumption is associated with lower psychological distress in a general population: the Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study.” Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, first published on Sep 30, 2009 as doi: doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.28214.