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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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Can Drinking Tea Prevent Heart Disease? Being one of the most consumed beverage in the world, tea is loved by many Asian and European countries. China is by far the largest consumer of tea, at 1.6 billion pounds a year. But if calculated on per person basis, Turkey, Ireland, and the United Kingdom are the top 3 tea consuming countries in the world. Traditional tea is derived from Camellia sinensis plant and is classified into 3 broad categories, namely green tea, black tea, and oolong tea. Black tea will undergo extensive fermentation, oolong tea is subject to partial fermentation, and green tea leaves are dried and heated for minimal fermentation. It is believed that tea has beneficial health effects, including cancer prevention, weight loss, skin improvement, protection the brain from Alzheimer's and dementia, and helps lower blood sugar because it is a good source of the compounds known as catechins and epicatechins. These compounds belong to a group of plant chemicals called flavonoids, which can help quell inflammation, which in turn may reduce plaque build-up inside arteries. Green tea has slightly higher amounts of these chemicals than black tea.
Research also shows that tea, with the presence of
theaflavins, may have the ability to lower cholesterol which is a risk factor
for heart disease. Theaflavins are antioxidant plant compounds (polyphenols)
formed by the condensation of antioxidant flavan-3-ols known as catechins. It
appears that theaflavins remove LDL (the bad or low-density lipoprotein
cholesterol) in the liver. They inhibit the absorption and reabsorption of
cholesterol in the intestines, too. Bile is made in the liver, and it is high in
cholesterol. Catechins, in particular, will block the reabsorption of bile in
the body, and this increases cholesterol excretion through the gut.
One study that was published in the ‘Journal Archives of Internal Medicine’ in 2003 found that 375 milligrams (mg) of theaflavin-enriched green tea extract given for 12 weeks had reduced total cholesterol by 11.3 percent, LDL cholesterol by 16.4 percent, triglycerides by 3.5 percent, and increased HDL (the good or high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol by 2.3 percent in 240 adult men and women on a low-fat diet with mild-to-moderate high cholesterol. The theaflavin-enriched green tea extract had included 150 mg of green tea catechins, 75 mg of theaflavins, and 150 mg of other polyphenols. This study suggested that one would need to drink massive amounts of green tea to lower cholesterol. Published in 2006 in the ‘Journal of the American Medical Association’, researchers concluded that green tea consumption is linked to reduced mortality due to all causes, including cardiovascular disease. The study followed over 40,000 Japanese participants aged between 40 and 79 for 11 years, starting in 1994. Those participants who drank at least 5 cups of green tea per day had a significantly lower risk of dying (especially from cardiovascular disease) than those who drank less than a cup of tea per day. While some studies indicated that black and oolong tea do not appear to work as well as green tea, a study published in the ‘Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry’ in 2005 reported that black tea, green tea, oolong tea, and pu-erh tea were all effective at lowering serum triglyceride levels after 30 weeks. Meanwhile, a 12-week study published in the journal ‘Preventive Medicine’ in 2012 compared black tea drinkers to plain hot water drinkers. Researchers reported that the consumption of 9 grams daily of black tea infusate (or 3 cups of black tea) would result in a highly significant reduction in cardiovascular risk factors like fasting serum glucose and triglyceride levels. Triglyceride levels had dropped by 36 percent, while HDL cholesterol levels had increased by 20 percent. There was also a significant reduction in the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol. The black tea used was high in theaflavins.
Unfortunately, human clinical research has yet to
offer conclusive evidence to justify heart disease prevention benefits of
drinking tea. But as tea itself does not appear to have any harmful effect,
people can always incorporate tea-drinking into a heart-healthy lifestyle so
long if they avoid the sugar-sweetened tea beverages.
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