Another study in the recent wave of tea research indicates that green tea may protect the skin against ultraviolet radiation.
Green tea is known to contain biologically active compounds called polyphenols that are thought to undo the damage caused by free-radicals and catechins seem to be the particularly beneficial kind of polyphenols.
As described in a paper published in the Journal of Nutrition, researchers irradiated and measured the effect of UV-radiation on a small area of the skin of 60 women volunteers, half of whom were randomly assigned to receive a green tea beverage that contained 1403 milligrams of catechins per day with the other group getting a catechin-free control beverage. What the researchers found is that UV-induced erythemia significantly decreased for women taking green tea.
Erythemia, or skin redness caused by damage or inflammation, decreased by 16% after 6 weeks and by 25% after 12 weeks and skin structure also improved.