GREEN tea can help control blood sugar levels and could even stave off diabetes, a survey claims.

The “super-drink” is packed with chemicals that can help reduce the risk of diabetes in overweight women.

Scientists from the University of Goias in Brazil looked at how green tea and diabetes drug, metformin, worked on 120 non-diabetic overweight women.

They concluded that green tea was “superior” to metformin in improving blood sugar control in women at risk for developing the condition.

But when combined with metformin, there was no effect at all.

Green tea also reduced cholesterol levels in the women.

The predominant active compounds in green tea are flavonoid monomers known as catechins, in particular epigallocatechin-3-gallate, which is the most abundant and most effective catechin in metabolic care, particularly among obese patients.