It almost seems a bit redundant to point out that tea might have the
ability to alleviate fatigue. After all, for many people who drink it
(and coffee) that's one of tea's most appealing features. But,
according to more than one study, it's not just the caffeine content
of tea that imparts this benefit.

Recent research in Japan appears to have confirmed what for many
people was already a given, that tea may help cut down on physical and
mental fatigue. Results of a study that appeared in the journal
Nutrition in 2008 indicated that a green tea extract helped counter
the accumulated effects of fatigue.

The tests were carried out on rats and found that those fed a green
tea compound called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) were able to
exercise longer than animals in a control group. Researchers noted
that those in the control group experienced increased levels of
thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), which were lessened in
the group given EGCG.

A previous study indicated that green tea extract tended to alleviate
chronic fatigue-induced oxidative stress in mice. According to
researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and
DePaul University, there are more than one million people, just in the
United States alone, who suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

The study, which was conducted by researchers at India's Panjab
University, treated mice with a combination of green tea extract and
catechin, a compound also found in tea. They concluded "that GTE and
catechin could be used as potential agents in the management of CFS
and warrant the inclusion of GTE and catechin in the treatment regimen
of CFS patients.

The notion that tea (and coffee) can help with fatigue is obviously
not a new one, as evidenced by this 1989 article - Fatigue: Often Tea
& Coffee Can Alleviate Symptoms - which first appeared in the Tea &
Coffee Trade Journal.

original article with links he
http://www.twinings.ca/?q=blog/2008/...Reduce-Fatigue