Healthy Recipe Doctor

Last week I told you I was going to ponder green tea a bit more while I sipped a cup and here I am with the results of that pondering.

How might tea phytochemicals reduce the risk of heart disease?
Delayed atherogenesis, lower risk of heart disease, reduced endothelial cell LDL cholesterol oxidation, and an increase in HDL cholesterol were all reported as health benefits in green tea in recent rat studies. That doesn’t exactly translate perfectly to human beings, but it’s a great start! Here are some of the possible ways that green tea components help your body.

* May slow the build up of artery clogging plaque (mice study)
Antioxidants make up a third of the weight of dried green tea leaves. And one of these antioxidants is called EGCG, the main catechin phytochemical in tea, which was shown to slow the build up of artery clogging plaque in mice in a recent study.
[Circulation May 25, 2004 109: 2448-2453 Chyu K-Y, et al., "Differential effects of Green Tea-derived Catechin on Development Versus Established Atherosclerosis in Apolipoprotein E-Null Mice"]
* May lower cholesterol levels by increasing intestinal excretion of cholesterol and bile acids (via your stool).
* Potential probiotic effect stimulating intestinal fermentation and production of volatile fatty acids.
* May increase HDL “good” cholesterol levels (in rats fed green tea)
* Lab research with cell cultures suggests that green tea has the ability to decrease cholesterol concentration within the cell (intracellular).
* May protect LDL “bad” cholesterol from oxidative modification
(Biofactors 2000 13,55 Miyazawa T., “Absorption, metabolism, and antioxidant effects of tea catechins in humans”)
* Green tea contains tannins (another type of phytochemical in tea besides catechins), which can help inhibit peroxidation chain reactions that are induced by a particular type of free radical.
* Green tea catechins may help regenerate/recycle the antioxidant, alpha tocopherol (a form of vitamin E), and increase plasma blood levels of alpha tocopherol

What is your favorite green tea?

~Elaine

Related Topics: Antioxidant Superstars, WebMD Daily Video: Antioxidants for Nureopathy

Technorati Tags: greentea, heartdisease, cholesterol, antioxidants, phytochemicals