The research on benefits of drink China Green Tea

Tag : Tea Beverage

Green tea is good for health. Researchers writing in the latest issue of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation have found that people who drink green tea have better bloodvessel function just 30 minutes later. Specifically, green teaimproves the function of endothelial cells. Endothelial celldysfunction plays a key role in the development of cloggedarteries, a process called atherosclerosis.

The finding adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests thatpowerful antioxidants in green tea called flavonoids may protectthe heart. Other flavonoid-rich foods include red grapes, red wine,and dark chocolate. The study authors say their results are thefirst to show that green tea offers a short-term improvement in thehealth of arteries. Black tea has previously been linked to short-and long-term improvements in endothelial function.

For the study, Nikolaos Alexopoulos and colleagues at the AthensMedical School in Greece randomly assigned 14 healthy volunteersapproximately 30 years of age to a cup of green tea, a beveragecontaining the same amount of caffeine as green tea, or hot wateron three separate occasions.

The researchers used a technique called flow-mediated dilation(FMD) to measure blood flow in each participant's arm at 30, 90,and 120 minutes after they drank their beverage. FMD is anoninvasive test that uses a blood pressure cuff and ultrasound tosee how blood flows in the brachial artery when the arm is gentlysqueezed. The brachial artery runs from the shoulder to the elbow.The artery should get wider when blood flow in the area increases,but diseases such as atherosclerosis hamper this effect. FMD is anindependent predictor of endothelial function and heart diseaserisk.

After drinking green tea, the subjects experienced significantlyincreased artery widening (dilation), with the highest increasenoted at 30 minutes. The caffeinated beverage and hot water did notproduce any significant changes in the same individuals.