Green Tea Extract
 

Does anyone have first hand experience with this one? Not simply drinking green tea, but the use of the concentrated extract? -Rick

Yes, I have two dropperfuls a day (in my morning protein shake) of the Invite Health version.

http://www.invitehealth.com/Green-te...mens-vitamins/

I like the taste and I think it gives me energy and boosts metabolism.

green tea
 

I take Mega Green Tea twice daily and have done so for a long time. It doesn't seem to do much for symptoms. I am changing over to Ecklonia cava extract. My guess is that it might be better.

Dear Rick:
 

I have been taking L-Theanine 100 mg once or twice a day as well one mug of green tea and another black tea for over a year.
I take many other supplements as well but I don't know if they are making any difference apart from drilling a hole in my wallet :rolleyes:
My selection of supplements is based on successful use of these supplements on rats. I am fully aware that humans are not rats and clinical trials are necessary to establish efficiency and correct dose.
At the end of the day I hope against hope that money is not thrown down the drain and these supplements may be supporting my general health and boosting my hopes as a good placebo should.
I may add that many times, I have thought of quitting supplements because they may pose a hazard, but simply couldn't. I could not afford loosing the placebo element.

Hello, Reverett123!
It's been a while. I've been taking green tea extract twce daily for well over 5 yrs. I take it in capsule form. Unfortunately, I have seen no signs, for better or worse, in all that time. I continue to take it under the notion that ,based on everything I have read, it is safe, cannot hurt you and may help. Perhaps this is foolish decision making, but as I'm sure you understand, I am desparate for any alleviation of all our wonderful symptoms and side effects. So, my conclusion on green tea extract is: It (probably)can't hurt you and may help. I hope this was of some help. All the best, KEITH

I use theanine (one of the main ingredients in green tea) now.

300mg at bedtime. Dr. Blaylock MD mentioned this supplement for people with nerve damage in a newsletter last summer.
One of our posters brought this to PN forum and I decided to try it because I have night time anxiety, and my son recommended it.

I use Doctor's Best brand. ( I found Swanson's less effective).

some terms
 

We have "green tea" - the beverage brewed from a particular type of the tea bush.

Then there is "green tea extract" - a concentrated form produced by some basic processing.

There is EGCG and theanine - two compounds isolated from the tea.

Most of the formal research has been done with EGCG and theanine. A lesser amount has been done with the extract.

Most of the informal (patient-led) work has been done with the two compounds or the tea itself. Looking over this forum and that of PLM, few PWP are taking the extract regularly.

I have been taking the extract now for five days with noticeable improvement in amount of on time, lower limb strength, general energy levels, reduced PD symptoms, reduced medication (from 1800 mg sinemet to 1200 mg. Have had one occassion to awaken in very early AM to find that walking is less of a problem than expected.

The immediate reason for my interest-
1) Research indicates that while extract is neuroprotective, it is also neurorestorative.
2) There are about a half-dozen destructive processes at work in PD (inflammation, mitochondrial failure, oxidation, etc) and this extract addresses most of them.
3) Because the effects of an inflammatory state can be both acute and chronic, minimizing the acute effects should produce quick relief of some symptoms and that is what I seem to be seeing.

Must go but will follow up later today with work of "real" scientists. -Rick

some research on this...
 

I thought I would share information on a trial MJFF funded clinical trial looking at potential neuroprotective properties of green tea polyphenols. Results showed a mild symptomatic benefit but couldn’t detect effect on disease progression. Please see abstracts of trial description and results on our web site (http://www.michaeljfox.org/research_...s_3.cfm?ID=187).

One thing to point out, one may not get a "benefit" by simply consuming green tea. I know the trial required creating a "drug" with varying "doses" of the polyphenols found in green tea. Since I'm not a scientist, I won't try to explain this but found this on wikipedia: "Ingestion of polyphenols occurs by consuming a wide array of plant foods; correspondingly, the role of dietary supplements as a method of realizing these health benefits is the subject of considerable discussion."

Best, Debi