Studies in several countries have found all three kinds of tea to
have some effect in reducing cholesterol in blood fats, though
oolong seems to get the best results. Triglycerides and cholesterol
are the two important fat substances in the bloodstream. These are
essential for many things, but cholesterol also builds up on the
walls of the arteries, causing them to narrow and restrict blood
flow, a condition know as atherosclerosis.
Japanese researchers, testing with green tea, concluded that it is
the catechins that act to cut cholesterol, and increase the
excretion of total lipids and cholesterol in the feces.
Fibrinogen is a globulin in the blood which turns into fibrin to
help in normal clotting. But in patients with abnormally high
fibrinogen levels, fibrin joins with arterial wall cholesterol to
form plaque. One catechin isolated from green tea helps dissolve
fibrin. (Bao Jun and others at Zhejiang Medical College Second
Affiliate Hospital, Hangzhou, at Symposium. Six years of treatment
with a medicine made from oxidized tea polyphenols on 214
cardiovascular patients with a high fibrinogen level brought it back
to normal for 81% of them. (Xia Wuying, same hospital, at the
Symposium.)
An
even better rate of 85% was reported on 120 high-fibrinogen patients
given tea pigment (TP) as a medicine at another Zhejiang hospital.
It can influence the anticoagulation enzyme, help dissolve fibrin,
and also decrease the rate of aggregation of platelets and the
adherence of platelets and cholesterol to the artery walls. (Luo
Fuqing, Zhejiang Medical School Cardiovascular Research Institute,
at the symposium.) Professor Luo says that tea pigments are, with
their anti-coagulant properties, abundant in both green and black
tea.
Drinking of oolong tea itself for a month was reported to yield an
8i% return to normal of high lipids in 424 patients at six bug
hospital in the city of Guangzhou (Canton). ( He Moli and others at
the tea Research Institute, Guangdong Institute of Agricultural
Sciences and the Guangdong People's Hospital, at the Symposium.) But
it should be pointed out that when results are so spectacular from
one experiment, much more research must be done to confirm the
validity of the investigation. It is still far too early to say with
certainty that oolong has this lipid-reducing effect.
The
above information indicates that regular drinking of tea (although
on which kind of tea the verdict is not yet in) may play a role in
controlling blood fats and preventing accumulation of cholesterol in
the arteries. Initial studies and tests also indicate greater
possibilities for utilizing medicines made from tea in treating
related conditions. "Keep drinking tea and you may avoid some of the
worst heart diseases," Professor Luo Fuqing is quoted as saying.
("What's in a Name," by Vijay Dudeja, Tea and Coffee Journal,
January 1989.)
