How can I make my own green tea extract?
This question could go under both "Health" and "Pets" but I chose this one as the most relevant.
I drink alot of different types of tea (black, green, red, white, herbal, you name it) so I have alot of supply around. And recently my poor little kitty was diagnosed with a cancerous soft tissue sarcoma in his hind leg. One of the many things our Veterinary Oncologist has suggested to us is supplements of green tea extract daily (as it has shown positive influence in human studies of survival rate with different types of cancer). It wouldn't hurt to give it a try.
So the more detailed question here is, how can I make my own concentrated liquid green tea extract without over steeping the tea and breaking down the molecules of the beneficial antioxidants?
And as far as dosage goes I have a general idea of how much extract to give (about 30 mg per day) if it's pure (like in a drugstore capsule).
Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.
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Jan 30, 2011. 9:49 PMorksecurity
says:
WARNING: See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobromine_poisoning and notice that cats are at the most sensitive end of the range shown there. ("LD50" is the dosage which will kill 50% of the animals it's tested on.) Also note that since cats have low body mass, they're going to be more sensitive generally.
If you're going to try creating your own extract, you probably want to start with a thoroughly decaf'd tea. Or one which didn't contain caffeine or theobromine to begin with. In fact you should probably talk to the vet about this before giving the cat anything which hasn't previously been tested on cats.
Remember, the reason plants produce theobromine, caffeine, and similar chemicals in the first place is as _insecticide_. (There's good reason it's called "intoxication"...) Humans have the mass, and the enzyme pathways, to handle these pretty well. Your pets generally don't.
If you're going to try creating your own extract, you probably want to start with a thoroughly decaf'd tea. Or one which didn't contain caffeine or theobromine to begin with. In fact you should probably talk to the vet about this before giving the cat anything which hasn't previously been tested on cats.
Remember, the reason plants produce theobromine, caffeine, and similar chemicals in the first place is as _insecticide_. (There's good reason it's called "intoxication"...) Humans have the mass, and the enzyme pathways, to handle these pretty well. Your pets generally don't.
. While theobromine and other compounds can be harmful to animals (I've warned about theobromine in dark chocolate and canines myself), I certainly hope that a Veterinary Oncologist would know what they are talking about. Maybe not.
"I certainly hope that a Veterinary Oncologist would know what they are talking about."
This is what I was thinking as well.
This is what I was thinking as well.
Jan 31, 2011. 8:56 AMorksecurity
says:
The vet may know about the commercial preparations -- but that may NOT be something you can easily produce at home.
Starting with decaf tea might be enough. Or might not. This is something to ask an expert, I think, and I'm not sure we have that expertise here.
Starting with decaf tea might be enough. Or might not. This is something to ask an expert, I think, and I'm not sure we have that expertise here.
Thank you for the warning. I did have some worries about the risks of homemade cat remedies in this case so better to be safe than sorry. I will probably end up just buying commercial tablets that have had some testing and research behind it anyway.
But as far as human consumption goes, I suppose the question is still out there.
But as far as human consumption goes, I suppose the question is still out there.
I think we're talking about catechins here?
You could do liquid-liquid extractions, but I don't think you've got the chemicals etc.
Soak in vodka and evaporate perhaps?
L
Catechins. Yes, that name does sound familiar.
Not sure about the vodka soak/evaporation method for this, however. While the method may work, how fast is another question. I'm thinking this may take days depending on the quantity of alcohol used and the percentage based it is.
Hmm, though now that I'm thinking about it, maybe a room temperature soak in a small amount of water over a period of so many hours? That would at least get rid of the concern over the heat degradation of the catechins.
Not sure about the vodka soak/evaporation method for this, however. While the method may work, how fast is another question. I'm thinking this may take days depending on the quantity of alcohol used and the percentage based it is.
Hmm, though now that I'm thinking about it, maybe a room temperature soak in a small amount of water over a period of so many hours? That would at least get rid of the concern over the heat degradation of the catechins.
You can always try it, taste the extracts as a qualitative assessment?
L
L
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