Green Tea

Camellia sinensis · the unoxidised leaf, and the catechins it keeps

All articles checked for accuracy against the GB NHC Register and all sources have citations with verified links to their relevant studies.

Green tea is the unoxidised leaf of Camellia sinensis and a rich source of catechin compounds such as EGCG. This page explains what green tea contains, how WellsparQ measures it in products, and the regulator-led safety view.

This article covers the plant origin and processing that make green tea distinct, the main constituents you find in the leaf, how WellsparQ declares green tea across its range, and the current regulatory safety and claims position. It aims to be factual and clear about what is known and what the rules allow us to say.

Ingredient Snapshot

What it is

The unoxidised leaf of Camellia sinensis, kept green by quick heating after harvest.

Where from

Camellia sinensis (tea shrub); steamed or pan‑fired fresh leaf

Known for

Contains polyphenol catechins (notably EGCG) and caffeine; used as a botanical source in supplements.

In WellsparQ

• Glucomannan Complex1,000 mg equivalent
• BacoPanax Complex200 mg
• NattakoComplex150 mg
• Apple CV Herb Blend30 mg

Green tea and black tea come from the same plant — Camellia sinensis, the tea shrub. What separates them is what happens to the leaf after picking. Black tea is allowed to oxidise; green tea is heated quickly — steamed or pan-fired — to halt oxidation, keeping the leaf green and preserving a group of compounds that oxidation would otherwise change. Those compounds, the catechins, are why green tea leaf turns up in supplement formulas. This page sets out the plant, its chemistry, the safety picture the regulators have drawn, and how WellsparQ uses it — as evidence and information, never as a promise.

One plant, two teas

The tea plant is an evergreen shrub grown across Asia and beyond. For green tea the fresh leaf is heated soon after harvest to deactivate the enzymes that would otherwise brown it, which is why the finished leaf and its infusion stay green ^¹. This single processing choice is the whole difference between green and black tea, and it is the reason green tea retains a higher level of the catechins described below.

As a leaf, green tea is naturally suitable for vegetarians and vegans; the finished product's kosher/halal status follows its own certification.

What the leaf keeps

Green tea's character comes from two families of compounds working together: polyphenol catechins and caffeine.

EGCG is the headline molecule in the research literature, and — as the safety section explains — the one the European regulators looked at most closely.

How WellsparQ measures it

Green tea leaf is one of WellsparQ's more widely used botanicals, appearing across several formulas at very different weights and always declared on the label.

Source: WellsparQ Supplements Database. The range runs from a 30 mg supporting note to a 1,000 mg equivalent — a reminder that "contains green tea" can mean very different things, which is exactly why the weight is declared each time.

The safety picture — the part that matters most

Green tea as a drink has a long, reassuring record of everyday use. Concentrated green tea catechin extracts are a different matter, and this is where the most important regulatory work sits. In 2018 the European Food Safety Authority published a scientific opinion on the safety of green tea catechins. It concluded that catechins from green tea infusions prepared and consumed in the traditional way are generally safe, but that EGCG taken as a supplement at doses of 800 mg per day or more has been associated with signs of liver injury (raised liver enzymes) in some studies ^². EFSA could not identify a precise safe supplemental dose from the available data ^².

The UK and other authorities have echoed this caution. The practical reading is straightforward: green tea extract is not automatically "gentler because it's natural", and total EGCG across a day — from all supplements — is the figure that matters. Products combining green tea with other ingredients should be counted in that total.

We report this as the established safety position, and it is one WellsparQ takes seriously rather than glosses.

The evidence, and the claims position

Green tea catechins have been studied extensively for metabolism, cardiovascular markers and more, and reviews continue to appear ^¹. But interest in the laboratory has not translated into an authorised health claim: green tea and its catechins carry no permitted health claim in the retained EU Register, and general-function botanical claims remain on hold ^³. So while the research can be described — who studied what, and with what limitations — no benefit line may be attached to green tea in WellsparQ's own voice, and none is here.

Where it fits your day

Green tea is one of the world's oldest daily rituals, and in the WellsparQ range it is a measured, declared leaf — sometimes a 30 mg note, sometimes a gram-scale equivalent. Because it carries caffeine, it sits more naturally in a daytime rhythm than an evening one. Rooted in nature, backed by research — and, in green tea's case, told honestly about safety as much as about promise.