Green tea has been used for many years as a medicine. It is loaded with antioxidants that are known for many health benefits. Now Japanese researchers have suggested that green tea can help combat food allergies. A food allergy occurs when your immune system overreacts to a food or a substance in a food. The researchers from Shinshu University in Japan found that drinking green tea increases the abundance of gut bacteria that helps suppress allergic immune responses. The bacteria, Flavonifractor plautii (FP), has been known to be a part of the catechin metabolism in the intestines. Catechin is an antioxidant found in a variety of foods including green tea. The research team found that oral administration of FP strongly suppressed the Th2 immune response to food allergies in vivo. As drinking green tea increases the abundance of FP in the gut, the study suggested that catechin in green tea could help fight food allergies.However, the researchers noted that more studies are needed to look into the safety of FP before it can be used as a probiotic to treat allergies. But you can start drinking green tea from now to get these evidence-based benefits: