Green tea extract lowers cardiovascular risk factors in 3 weeks.

Many benefits have been associated with the use of green tea. The study reviewed here examined the effect of a green tea extract on cardiovascular risk factors (Nantz MP, et al. 2009). A standardized green tea extract was used to eliminate the variables of both the quality and quantity present when drinking green tea.

The study participants took 1 capsule of the green tea extract twice daily and blood pressure, cholesterol, amyloid-alpha (a marker of chronic inflammation) and malondialdehyde (a marker of oxidative stress) were measured at the start and after 3 weeks.

The results showed that after 3 weeks, systolic blood pressure was lowered by 5 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure lowered by 4 mmHg. Serum amyloid-alpha was lowered by 42% and malondialdehyde was lowered by 11.9%. Total cholesterol was also lowered and LDL was lowered in everybody with a LDL cholesterol level of more than 99 mg/dl.

If you don’t like to drink green tea or don’t want to drink 5 cups or more daily, then you can take a capsule of high quality green tea extract instead.

To read the original abstract, click the reference below.



Reference:

Nantz MP, Rowe CA, Bukowski JF, Percival SS. Standardized capsule of Camellia sinensis lowers cardiovascular risk factors in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Nutrition. 2009 Feb;25(2):147-54. Epub 2008 Oct 9.