Catechins and Epicatechins are found in a variety of plants sources.The largest source of catechins found in the human diet are found in chocolates, wine, teas and vegetables.
Norman Hollenberg, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, told C&I that epicatechin is so important that it should be considered a vitamin.
Natural cocoa has high levels of epicatechin. If these observations predict the future, then we can say without blushing that they are among the most important observations in the history of medicine’.
Hollenberg also says. ‘We all agree that penicillin and anaesthesia are enormously important. But these could potentially get rid of 4 of the 5 most common diseases in the western world, how important does that make epicatechin?… I would say very important
Nutrition expert Daniel Fabricant says that Hollenbergs’ results, although observational, are so impressive that they may even warrant a rethink of how vitamins are defined.
At the moment, the science does not support epicatechin having an essential role. But, Fabricant, who is vice president scientific affairs at the Natural Products Association, says: “the link between high consumption of epicatechins and a decreased risk of killer disease is so striking, it should be investigated further. It may be that these diseases are the result of epicatechin deficiency”.
They constitute about 25% of the dry weight of fresh tea leaf although total catechin content varies widely depending on clonal variation, growing location, seasonal/ light variation, and altitude. They are present in nearly all teas made from Camellia sinensis, including white tea, green tea, black tea and Oolong tea.
Many studies on health benefits have been linked to the catechin content. According to Norman Hollenberg, epicatechin can reduce the risk of four of the major health problems: stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes. He studied the Kuna people in Panama, who drink up to 40 cups of cocoa a week, and found that the prevalence of the “big four” is less than 10%. He believes that epicatechin should be considered essential to the diet and thus classed as a vitamin. Science Daily March 12, 2007.
Antioxidants are needed to remove the toxins from our bodies, but our bodies don’t make these so we must find products that are high in antioxidant levels to keep our bodies healthy.
We can obtain the power of epicatechins and catechins by adding products made from unprocessed cocoa to our daily diets. It is true that catechins and epicatechins can also be found in fruits and vegetables, but the body needs to capture as many different types of these catechins as possible, such as those found in tea and chocolate.
Dark chocolate has higher concentrations of catechins due to the higher levels of cocoa.
Be sure to add unprocessed cocoa to your daily diets to get the highest levels of these in your system needed to prevent the ‘Big Four’- stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes.
Catechins And Epicatichens – Epicatichen Chocolate-Weight Loss Diet Tips 4 Life!
