Is Green tea extract legal in the United Kingdom?

In people, the biggest study gave 1,075 women 843 mg of EGCG a day for a year. Liver blood tests went up in 6.7 percent of them, against 0.7 percent on a dummy pill. A review of weight loss studies found no weight loss that matters. In mice, it did not extend lifespan by the NIA program's standard test. A second look, using a test that counts early deaths more, found a 7 percent gain in typical female lifespan.

Green tea extract is a strong dose of the plant compounds in green tea, called catechins. It is set to a level of EGCG, the main one.

How it works: EGCG and the other catechins are plant compounds that act as antioxidants in a dish. In cells they also touch many enzymes and signals.

Approval history: Not an approved drug. Sold as a dietary supplement. The lifespan hint in female mice comes only from a second look at the data using one statistical test (the Gehan test). Supplement doses of 800 mg EGCG a day or more have been shown to raise liver enzymes, a warning sign for the liver, in controlled studies in people (EFSA 2018).

Licenses medicines for sale in the UK. A compound without a licence to be sold (a marketing authorisation) is an unlicensed medicine. The law only lets it reach people through a prescriber, under the specials scheme (unlicensed medicines made for one patient's needs). It cannot be sold as a research product.

The legal category above is how The Longevity Archive reads Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency listings for Green tea extract on the reviewed date. It is not a legal opinion. Rules change. Bringing a compound into the country, prescribing it and owning it can each be treated differently. Check with the agency before you act on anything here.

Check MHRA directly

Whether Green tea extract is banned in sport is set by the World Anti-Doping Code and by military rules, not by its legal status in the United Kingdom. Before you compete or get tested, look up Green tea extract by name on the Prohibited List, or look up a named product in Global DRO. Under the World Anti-Doping Code, category S0 bans, at all times, any drug-like substance that meets two tests. No other section of the List covers it. And no government health regulator anywhere has a current approval for it as a treatment in people. Many substances that are approved somewhere are banned by name in another section. So approval does not mean a substance is allowed in sport.

• WADA Prohibited List
• Global DRO (check a named product)
• USADA (US athletes)
• Operation Supplement Safety (US service members)

The rules you compete or serve under decide this, not this page.