Green Tea (Oral)

What It Is

Green tea's catechins, chiefly EGCG, do reach skin when you drink or swallow them: a small study found catechin metabolites in skin after 12 weeks. The best result is modest sun protection. In a 12-week randomised trial, a catechin-rich drink reduced UV redness by about a quarter, and a smaller open study also saw less UV redness. It is not consistent, though: a placebo-controlled trial of catechin capsules found no reduction in sunburn redness or UV-induced DNA damage, and a two-year trial of 500mg a day did not improve photoaging over placebo. A reasonable habit as a drink, not a proven skin supplement.

How to Use

Brewed green tea is the low-risk route; European tea drinkers typically get about 90 to 300mg of EGCG a day from it. Concentrated extracts are different: the European Food Safety Authority found that supplements supplying 800mg or more of EGCG a day raised liver-enzyme markers in trials, and rare liver injury has been reported. If you use an extract, stay well below that. The UV-redness trial used a drink with about 1,400mg of total catechins a day, a research dose. Keep using daily SPF.

Learn More

• Oral Green Tea Guide
• Concern hub: Skin Aging & Longevity
• Category hub: Supplements & Ingestibles
• Related: Green Tea Extract (Topical)
• Rhodes LE et al. (2013). Oral green tea catechin metabolites are incorporated into human skin and protect against UV radiation-induced cutaneous inflammation. Br J Nutr
• Heinrich U et al. (2011). Green tea polyphenols provide photoprotection, increase microcirculation, and modulate skin properties of women. J Nutr
• Farrar MD et al. (2015). A randomized controlled trial of green tea catechins in protection against ultraviolet radiation-induced cutaneous inflammation. Am J Clin Nutr
• Farrar MD et al. (2018). Oral green tea catechins do not provide photoprotection from direct DNA damage induced by higher dose solar simulated radiation. J Am Acad Dermatol
• Janjua R et al. (2009). A two-year, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial of oral green tea polyphenols on the long-term clinical and histologic appearance of photoaging skin. Dermatol Surg
• EFSA ANS Panel (2018). Scientific opinion on the safety of green tea catechins. EFSA J
• Linus Pauling Institute — Tea