A clinical trial testing green tea extract is the first human study to find that a tea product lowers cholesterol. The double-blind, randomized, controlled study included 240 men and women with high cholesterol levels in China. During the 12-week trial, participants, already on a low-fat diet, were randomly chosen to receive either a placebo or 375 mg of green and black tea extracts enriched with an antioxidant found in tea called theaflavin. The results amazed lead author Dr David J. Maron, associate professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“Personally, I was very surprised,” Maron said. “I expected, if anything, a very slight cholesterol-lowering effect. But what we saw was a 16% reduction in LDL [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][“bad”] cholesterol.”

Tea is the second most widely consumed beverage worldwide. In the past, several epidemiologic studies had shown that tea consumption is associated with lower cholesterol. Experiments in animals have demonstrated that green tea, black tea, and flavonoids derived from green and black teas lower cholesterol.

Maron said there is a need to identify additional non-drug options for lowering cholesterol that have sufficient safety and efficacy data. There is also a need to find products that are more practical for the consumer. While pleased with the initial outcomes, he recommends further testing to determine long-term safety, the effective dosing range, the impact when the extract is taken with lipid medication (especially statins) and the adaptability to other ethnic and patient groups.

Vanderbuilt University, Jun 24, 2003
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