Crohn’s Disease and Green Tea: Potential Benefits & Considerations

Are you curious what the science says about Crohn’s disease and green tea? It can be a great, affordable remedy to prevent disease progression and even support remission.

Co-written by Renata Cauchon-Robles

Green tea has shown benefits for the gut health of people with or without IBD! Like many things, research is continuing to learn more about the details. But for now, you can count on a nice warm cup of green tea to provide your body with some anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and microbiome-boosting benefits. Read on to learn just how green tea can support your health.

Is Green Tea Good for You?

What does green tea have that everyone’s talking about? Polyphenols. Polyphenols are a group of chemical compounds that include things you might have heard of like flavonoids, tannins, or caffeine. 

Green tea leaves are made of about 30% polyphenols, which are anti-inflammatory and act as strong antioxidants. Even caffeine-free versions of green tea have shown similar health benefits, including anti-cancer effects. Some other foods that contain polyphenols are berries, apples, nuts, spinach, soy products, chocolate, and seasonings like turmeric and clove.

And just in case you were wondering, green tea has more polyphenols than black tea. And yes, matcha counts as green tea.

Here is some of what we known about the benefits to a nice cup of green tea:

Green Tea Benefits

While it isn’t new knowledge, the latest research continues to show that the polyphenols in green tea are helpful for prevention and treatment of a list of diseases. Since a cup of green tea provides anti-inflammatory properties for the body to use, inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s, is one of those diseases on the list.

Green tea has a healthy makeup (up to 15-20%) of amino acids (aka proteins) that help all sorts of different functions in the body. The amount varies among different types of green tea, but most also contain a mix of micronutrients like magnesium, calcium, and iron as well as vitamins B, C, E, and K, and even iodine!

Green Tea and Gut Health

Anti-inflammatory action

A typical characteristic of IBD is its creation of long-term inflammation in the gut. Polyphenols can help calm that inflammation and reduce the development of colorectal cancer. This happens because of their beneficial influence on different enzymes in the body.

Prebiotic properties

And, guess what? Green tea polyphenols are a prebiotic! This means that sipping green tea can ready your system for digestion by helping increase the beneficial bacteria in your gut.

Some studies have found green tea can help slow the growth of H. pylori and keep it at healthy levels in the gut. And with a healthier microbiome, a healthier immune system follows!

Green Tea Side Effects

Now that we’ve talked about the benefits of green tea, you might be wondering if there are any negative side effects to drinking green tea. Our first recommendation is to pay attention to how you feel after drinking caffeine, or try decaf versions.

Green Tea and Iron

Another thing to watch out for with green tea is that it can reduce how much iron you absorb from your meal, especially iron from plant sources like leafy greens, beans, and potatoes. This is because the natural tannins in the green tea like to attach to the iron. This blocks your body from being able to claim and use the iron as it normally would. Something similar happens with coffee and iron from your meal.

IBD warriors need to maximize their iron because they’re at risk for deficiency. Their gut is already having a rough time absorbing and using iron from meals. To avoid this effect, try green tea in between meals, giving yourself at least 1 hour to fully digest a meal.

How Much Green Tea Can I Drink in a Day?

It’s important to not get too excited by this information and start drinking green tea by the bucketload. Some research shows that very high doses of green tea polyphenols can make our kidneys or liver struggle, or make some diseases worse, like GERD.

Exactly how much green tea is good for you during remission or during an IBD flare is still being researched. Some research shows that during IBD treatment, the body has a harder time absorbing the beneficial polyphenols. And if we can’t absorb something, that means our body can’t break it down (aka metabolize it), and we don’t get the benefits we were hoping for.

Take Home Message

Properties in green tea are known to support anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity in the gut AND help support a healthy microbiome. Start slow, but up to 5 cups a day (in between meals) can reap the benefits.

Learn More

• Learn more about why iron is so important for IBD warriors
• Wondering why you feel so tired with Crohn’s disease? Read more here.
• Work with a specialized IBD dietitian to understand your symptoms and your diet a little better. You got this!

References

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