A compound in green tea called EGCG, along with a couple of its modified versions, can strongly block an enzyme in your body that breaks down important chemicals like dopamine—so much so that it takes just a tiny amount to do the job.

20

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

20

Community contributions welcome

20

Enzymology of methylation of tea catechins and inhibition of catechol-O-methyltransferase by (-)-epigallocatechin gallate.

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2003 May

The study found that EGCG and its modified versions block the COMT enzyme very effectively at very low doses — exactly what the claim says.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Enzymology of methylation of tea catechins and inhibition of catechol-O-methyltransferase by (-)-epigallocatechin gallate.

Score: 20

DOI: 10.1124/DMD.31.5.572

Similar Assertions

EGCG, a compound in green tea, sticks really well to a human enzyme called COMT, but it doesn’t fit right for the enzyme to change it—so it blocks the enzyme instead of getting modified itself.

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A compound in green tea called EGCG slows down a human enzyme that modifies estrogen, but it doesn’t block the enzyme’s main working spot—it sticks somewhere else to mess with how it works.

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73%

Even though EGCG (a compound in green tea) sticks really well to a human enzyme that adds methyl groups, its shape doesn’t line up right with the tiny magnesium ion the enzyme needs to work—so it can’t be properly methylated, making it a bad fit for the job.

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73%

EGCG, a compound in green tea, sticks to the liver’s enzyme COMT much tighter than EGC, another tea compound—but once it’s stuck, it gets processed much more slowly.

20

0

73%