Study: Green Tea May Prevent Heart Disease

Tag : function tea

A couple of cups of green tea a day may keep the cardiologist away,a study finds.
The study showed that green tea improves blood flow and the abilityof arteries to relax, Charalambos Vlachopoulos, a cardiologist atthe Athens Medical School in Greece who worked on the study, told Reuters .
The cardiovascular benefits of all teas — as well as darkchocolate and red wine — are attributed to the flavonoidsthey contain and their antioxidant activity.
Vlachopoulos said flavonoids in green tea are probably more potentantioxidants than in black tea because green tea does not gothrough oxidization.
The researchers gave 14 healthy volunteers either green tea,diluted caffeine or hot water on three separate occasions and thenmeasured the function of endothelial cells lining the circulatorysystem, which help relax arteries and ease blood flow.
Those who drank the green tea had an almost immediate improvementin endothelial function.
"Tea consumption has been associated with reduced cardiovascularmorbidity and mortality in several studies," Vlachopoulos said in anews release. "Green tea is consumed less in the Western world thanblack tea, but it could be more beneficial because of the way itseems to improve endothelial function."
Click here to see this study .