You said it right, Bridestein!  In Japan, we drink green tea until it's coming out our ears, but we have an epidemic of diabetes to match America's.  From my observations, it has a lot to do with sugar addiction and the myth that only carbs are good for you, but pesticides and various kinds of pollution are probably also to blame.

I feel like some of the comments speculating on what people might "do" with the information were very obnoxious and pretentious. I'm an insulin-dependent diabetic and have been that way since I was a child.  My diet would rival Dr. Mercola's.  I've tried his guide on 'how to make diabetes disappear," and unforutunately it hasn't worked for me.    Therefore, I'm personally intrigued by the green tea news.  I'm specifically referring to the comment regarding diabetics 'having their cake and eating it too' and 'excuses to eat fried apples."  While we all know that idiots like that exist, there are many people like me who could use the information to improve on theri long=time diabetic struggle.  Not all forms of diabetes respond to diet control.  

Whether the study actually means anything is a whole other story, especially considering the fact (that another reader pointed out) that the diabetic epidemic in Japanese population is rising despite Japan's high green tea consumption. Perhpas a study should be conducted amongst green tea drinking folks and diabetics so that we can find out a real solid answer.  Of course, like another commenter also pointed out, no pharmaceutical company would ever fund that study since it would only lead to the demise of their profit on insulin if the study did in fact yield promising results.