ORLANDO, FLA. — Chinese green tea has beneficial blood pressure-lowering and antihypercholesterolemic effects, Teresa Tricia Bautista, M.D., reported at Wonca 2004, the conference of the World Organization of Family Doctors.
Japanese green tea has also been reported to be effective in lowering serum cholesterol in a number of studies. However, Japanese green tea is three to five times more expensive than green tea from China. That cost difference can be significant, especially for patients in underdeveloped countries who can't afford statin therapy or antihypertensive agents and are looking for an alternative, said Dr. Bautista of University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila, the Philippines.
She presented a pilot study in which 15 hypercholesterolemic patients who weren't regular tea drinkers were asked to drink a cup of Chinese green tea prepared in a standardized fashion three times per day after every meal for 2 weeks.
Ten of the patients completed the prospective study.
Mean serum total cholesterol dropped from 235 mg/dL at baseline to 187 mg/dL. Mean LDL fell from 144 to 137 mg/dL. Blood pressure declined from 130/87 mm Hg at baseline to 117/81 mm Hg after 1 week and 118/80 mm Hg after 2 weeks, Dr. Bautista said.