The popularity of green tea as a healthy food drink spurred a lot of manufacturers to produce green tea drinks and supplements, and the many choices keep us looking for the best tea brand in the market. What should you look for in the best green tea brand?

Green tea contains catechins, a polyphenol that has antioxidant properties. This chemical substance is responsible for the many green tea health benefits that we get from green tea. It is known to be more potent that Vitamins C and E in helping to speed up metabolism and minimize damages to the body cells that can cause diseases.  So when choosing the best green tea brand, the first consideration is the catechin content. Different tea brands have varying catechin content and careful reading of the labels can help you decide. Here are some popular choices on green tea drinks.

Regular Green Tea

In a 2007 USDA study, 400 kinds of green tea products were compared for their flavonoid content and the researchers found that a cup of hot, regular green tea contains 127 milligrams of catechins. This proves that regular green tea contains twice more than decaffeinated green tea. It contains thrice as many catechins than flavored green tea and ten times more than the catechin content in an instant or bottled green tea.

Tea Bags or Loose Tea

Brewing tea is the traditional way of preparing tea drinks; but nowadays tea bags are popular and convenient. Loose tea according to many Chinese tea drinkers give optimum health benefits than those that are processed into tea bags. The fanning and dusting process usually causes the catechins to lose freshness quickly.

Flavored Tea

Some people prefer flavored green tea; however, it should be remembered that high quality tea drink do not require any flavoring. In 2007 a research studied by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) , flavored green tea contains only 43 milligrams of catechins per gram. This means 1/3 of the catechins found in regular unsweetened green tea.

Bottled or Canned Green Tea

Perhaps this is the most convenient choice to enjoy green tea drinks. However, studies by Rod Dashwood of Oregon State University,showed that bottled or canned green tea drinks contain only a fraction of catechins. They also contain  heavily sweetened and have a significant number of calories as well as artificial flavorings which may not be too healthy for you.

Instant Green Tea Mix

Another convenient way to drink green tea, instant tea mix does not require boiled water. It’s an instant drink that comes with flavorings and sugar to enhance the taste.  According to the report published by the US Department of Agriculture in 2007, instant tea mix only contain 10% of the catechins than the regular steeped tea. The processing of this type of mix drink can also cause skeletal fluorosis when taken for a significantly longer period of time.

Decaffeinated Green Tea

Decaffeinating tea drink means removing the caffeine in tea by 98% or equivalent to 5% caffeine only in a cup of tea drink.  In a 2003 study by the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, researchers found that decaffeinated green tea only contains 1/3 of the catechins found in regular tea drinks which means only about 5 to 50 milligrams of catechins. A regular green tea drink actually contains some 21 to 103 milligrams of catechins per gram.

Green tea brands like Dragon Well Green Tea have been among the top-choices of tea-drinkers. Other popular brand names are Sencha, Macha, Gunpowder, Jasmine, Genmaicha, Anji, Stash Darjeeling Organic Green Tea, Lipton 100% Natural Green Tea and Celestial Seasonings Green Tea. Even with a myriad of choices for the best green tea brand, the best thing to do is read the labels and check the catechin content.