Green Tea: The Secret To Better Heart Health?

Green tea, which has been used for thousands of years in Asian cultures, has been linked to many favorable health benefits.

In fact, green tea consumption has been linked to a reduction in DNA damage, improved flexibility in your veins and arteries, and may even slow the aging process.

Green tea, which is slightly different then black tea leaves, has been shown to possess high levels of polyphenols and EGCG, which could contribute to green tea’s amazing health benefits.

Green tea has also been shown in research to enhance your cardiovascular and metabolic health by reducing risk factors, which include being overweight, obese, and insulin resistance.

Now, a new study published in the journal Cell, could show a possible link between daily consumption of green tea extract and improved health for overweight, obese, and hypertensive individuals.

Let me explain…

Green Tea

Green tea intake has steadily increased over the years, making it the number two most consumed beverage in the world next to water.

The reason why green tea has gained popularity among consumers is the reported health benefits that green tea consumption elicits.

Green tea, which has a high amount of polyphenols, is different than black tea leaves only through the way they are processed.

Black tea leave are oxidized, which potentially strips the powerful polyphenols away, leaving it blackened.

On the other hand, green tea leaves are steamed at very high temperatures, which could leave the polyphenols intact.

The authors of this study aimed to test the hypothesis that green tea consumption could alter insulin resistance and its associated cardiovascular risk factors in obese, hypertensive patients.

They performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial on 56 obese and hypertensive patients.

They administered a daily supplement containing 387 mg of green tea extract or a placebo for three months.

At baseline and at the conclusion of the study, they assessed blood pressure measurements, plasma lipid levels, glucose levels, creatinine levels, TNF-alpha levels, C-reactive protein levels, total antioxidant levels, and insulin levels and measurements of insulin resistance.

At the end of three months, the researchers noted that there was a significant decrease in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels compared to baseline measurements.

Also, they showed serum glucose levels, insulin levels, insulin resistance measurements, TNF-alpha, and C-reactive protein levels were all decreased in the green tea group when compared to the control group and compared to baseline.

They also noted an increase in total antioxidant levels. 

When looking at blood lipid levels, they noted that the green tea group showed a decrease in LDL, total cholesterol, and triglycerides, plus an increase in HDL cholesterol levels compared to control and baseline measurements.

From their work, they concluded that daily supplementation of green tea extract (379 mg) favorably influenced blood pressure, insulin resistance, inflammation, oxidative stress, and lipid profile in obese patients who are also hypertensive.

Although this research is new and exciting, there still needs more research to validate their findings and to test different concentrations of green tea extract.  However, this study does show promise for the inclusion of daily green tea supplementation to potentially improve cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors.

Green Tea and Overall Health

Green tea has been used for thousands of years in Asian cultures to improve health and wellness.

In the US, consumers have started to increase their consumption of green tea, ranking it second behind only water as the most widely consumed beverage.

Green tea has been shown to not only improve cardiovascular health and wellness, but also has been shown to slow and may even reverse the aging process.

According to the results of this study, a daily supplement containing green tea may be beneficial to reducing your cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors.

Combing a daily green tea supplement with a healthy diet (that includes drinking green tea) may improve your overall health.


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