(Natural News) Back in May, The Washington Post published an article that asked the question: Why has the death toll from covid-19 apparently been lower in Asia than in Western Europe and North America? The answer, it would appear, is that Asian countries tend to drink more green tea than the rest of the world, as well as consume more zinc, both of these things being powerful antiviral nutrients.

Green tea contains a unique polyphenol known as epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG, that research shows is a powerful zinc ionophore, meaning it helps zinc get into cells. Conversely, zinc helps to make EGCG more bioavailable, meaning the two nutrients work hand in hand to enhance each other’s therapeutic potential.

Zinc, as you may recall, is the nutrient that, taken alongside hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), a pharmaceutical zinc ionophore, is showing incredible promise in helping sick patients overcome the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). But green tea and EGCG is an even better solution, and a natural one at that.

In Japan, where green tea consumption is the highest in the world, deaths from the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) have been minimal. The same is true for Vietnam and China, both of which rank second and third, respectively, for green tea consumption.

“Correlation is obviously not causation,” notes Zero Hedge. “But … there is some evidence that these Asian countries’ green tea consumption may be part of what is helping to prevent higher mortality (as it may also be doing with cancer and heart disease).”

Green tea, EGCG are powerful weapons against coronavirus

Besides not having a contentious election coming up that might be influencing the case numbers here in the United States, countries like Japan and China tend to consume more nutrient-dense foods in general. This is another potential factor influencing the case disparity domestically versus internationally.

Another thing to keep in mind about green tea and EGCG, which are heavily consumed throughout Asia, is that they are powerful Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) fighters in other ways. An Indian study found that EGCG has the ability to target numerous key structures inside the virus, disabling its functional capacity.

“EGCG showed a very high binding affinity and a low inhibition constant among all the phytoconstituents screened, especially in the case of 6vw1, which is a potential target of SARS-CoV-2,” the paper found.

“EGCG exhibited better binding with the viral proteins and hence, is expected to show better antiviral activity than the reference drugs, remdesivir and chloroquine,” it added.

Green tea also contains theanine, an amino acid that just so happens to target various coronavirus structural sites.

It is important to remember, though, that by itself, EGCG is both unstable and bio-unavailable unless coupled with nutrients like zinc that studies show help to maximize its transport into cells.

“UV-VIS spectrometry revealed that the absorption of EGCG increased and its peak became large by adding zinc,” one Japanese study found. “Zinc enhances the hepatoprotective [i.e. liver-protecting] activity of EGCG.”

Chinese scientists have also found that EGCG more easily permeates cells when in the presence of zinc. It is almost as if these two nutrients were made for one another, working synergistically to support a healthy immune system.

There is also evidence to suggest that zinc can help to reduce the oxidation of EGCG before it gets transported into cells. While more research is certainly needed to confirm all of this, it absolutely would not cause any harm to start incorporating this regimen into your daily routine for protection against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

“Quercetin is the nearest naturally occurring bioflavonoid to the HCQ complex,” notes one Zero Hedge commenter. “It’s also in … green tea. Quercetin and zinc. There are even combo tabs already on the market.”