Cholesterol, High Cholesterol

A beneficial effect of green tea (Camellia sinensis) taken as 250mg capsules daily was demonstrated, with a significant reduction of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels in an 8-week double-blind crossover study of 33 patients 21-71 years of age with dyslipidemias or an abnormal amount of lipids in the blood. Green tea supplementation resulted in a 3.9% reduction (p = 0.006) in total cholesterol concentrations and a 4.5% reduction (p = 0.026) in LDL cholesterol. The intake of green tea did not significantly influence HDL cholesterol, triglyceride, and Apo-B levels. (113)

Daily supplementation with 379 mg of green tea extract (GTE) was found to be associated with beneficial effects on blood pressure, insulin resistance, inflammation and oxidative stress, and cholesterol in 56 patients with obesity-related hypertension. At the end of the 3-month study both systolic and diastolic blood pressures significantly decreased in the GTE group when compared to the placebo group (p < .01). Additionally, compared to the placebo group, significant (p < .01) reductions in glucose and insulin levels and insulin resistance were observed in the GTE group. Serum tumor necrosis factor α and C-reactive protein were significantly lower, whereas total antioxidant status increased in the GTE group compared with the placebo (p < .05). Supplementation also contributed to statistically significant decreases in the total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. There was also an increase in HDL cholesterol observed. Following 3 months of treatment, systolic blood pressure dropped about 4 mmHg and diastolic bp dropped about 2 mmHg on average. LDL improved from 3.5 to 3.1 mmol/L, HDL from 1.2 to 1.4 mmol/L, triglycerides 1.4 to 1.1 mmol/L, total cholesterol 5.4 to 5.0 mmol/L, C-reactive protein from 3.4 to 2.5 mg/L and tumor necrosis factor 5.4 to 4.7 ng/L. (114)