Drinking Green Tea Good for Breast Cancer Survivors

FYI - they used decaffeinated green tea.  They also made the point that, "... bottled green tea purchased from grocery stores contains little to none of green tea antioxidants like EGCG, according to a recent study.  Those who are concerned should prepare their own green tea from scratch with bagged tea or bulk green tea and hot water."

Anyone have tips to make green tea taste better?    Thanks.

I usually drink black tea which requires hot hot hot water, but green tea is different -- make sure the water is not yet boiling if you want to eliminate that green grassy taste.

Also if you are using tea leaves rather than the bags try 'washing' the tea leaves first by pouring in the hot water to cover then after a few seconds dumping it out again and start over. This allows the leaves to expand a bit first allowing more of the anti oxidants to get into the tea when the water is added the second time. The first flush also gets rid of some of the caffeine. If you like the results you can usually get a few more 'pots' out of the same batch of leaves over the rest of the day.

Good luck!

I love green tea plain also, but occasionally I put lemon and honey in it.  Maybe some agave to sweeten it would help?  Also, if you're ER+ and you buy the flavored green tea bags, take a look at the ingredients and make sure it doesn't have soy lecithin.  A lot of those flavored ones have it in them.  I know the jury is out on soy, but I'm avoiding it as much as possible!

I read the article and had to look up how many cups = 960 ml.  It's a little bit over 4 cups.   Do you think it makes a difference if you drink it as iced tea?

I started drinking green tea this summer. At first I couldn't stand the taste either and started some internet research and found these:

As Kathy044 said, don't let the water come to a complete boil. You want it steaming hot, but no rapidly rising bubbles.  From what I read, you can actually "burn" green tea, which results in a bitter taste.

Don't let it brew too long.  I think that has something to do with "burn" also.

I read that the Japanese green tea has multiple times the EGCG that Chinese green tea has.  The Kirkland brand sold at Costco is supplied by a Japanese green tea company that is supposed to be highly regarded for its quality in Japan.  You can also order the Kirkland brand on Amazon, but it costs more.  It's 12.99 at my local Costco for 100 tea bags.  

Drink it within two hours of brewing to get the most EGCG benefit.  Since I'm a southern gal and like my tea iced and sweet, it means I have to brew it when I want to drink it - no brewing up a pitcher in the morning and drinking throughout the day.  Kind of a pain, but a small one considering everything else we've dealt with already.

I sweeten mine with stevia. Trying to cut back on sugar so as to not feed the beast.

Hope these hints help make green tea palatable for those who want to try it.

My question: has anyone found that you still get the EGCG benefit from re-using the tea bags? 

Edited to correct ECGC to EGCG

I have  been decaf drinking green tea for 6 years.  Bone mets and right hilar region involvement.  Good Earth has green tea and white tea.. Very good!

I agree that for those who dont like the taste of green teas - there are SO many kinds to choose from...perhaps youre not finding the one you like.  I drink white tea myself....its so mild and I can get along with the teeniest amount of sugar or honey in it....but its more fussy in its preparation.  When we lived in Japan, we found green tea to smell almost fishy - but the roasted variety was much milder. 

I saw that white tea is even better than green quite some time ago....has anyone heard any recent news on that? 

I never heard of Brassica Tea! Interesting!!!

I lucky if I get one cup of tea in a day - I still like coffee a LOT! Today I am having Yogi Green Tea with Pomagranate.  Its Yogi's antioxident blend and found a whole foods stores.

I know I already talked about white tea - white tea is the same leaf as green but younger and more tender and less processed...therefore it retains more of its antioxident properties.  It IS a little fussier to make (dont let the water boil and the steep is really short) but so mild for those who dont like a strong flavor.

Just adding a health newsletter on White Tea.  For some who find steamed green teas 'fishy', you can try roasted green teas, or give white a try - just make sure the water is not to boiling, and you steep it for less than 2 minutes before it gets bitter....I dont even need sugar with my white or green teas.

 http://healthnewsreport.blogspot.com/2009/07/white-tea-vs-green-tea.html