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Green Tea is good for the heart

Ironslave

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Babu, P; Liu, D
Green tea catechins and cardiovascular health: an update.
Curr Med Chem. 2008;15(18):1840-50.


Epidemiological, clinical and experimental studies have established a positive correlation between green tea consumption and cardiovascular health. Catechins, the major polyphenolic compounds in green tea, exert vascular protective effects through multiple mechanisms, including antioxidative, anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, anti-thrombogenic, and lipid lowering effects. (1) Tea catechins present antioxidant activity by scavenging free radicals, chelating redox active transition-metal ions, inhibiting redox active transcription factors, inhibiting pro-oxidant enzymes and inducing antioxidant enzymes. (2) Tea catechins inhibit the key enzymes involved in lipid biosynthesis and reduce intestinal lipid absorption, thereby improving blood lipid profile. (3) Catechins regulate vascular tone by activating endothelial nitric oxide. (4) Catechins prevent vascular inflammation that plays a critical role in the progression of atherosclerotic lesions. The anti-inflammatory activities of catechins may be due to their suppression of leukocyte adhesion to endothelium and subsequent transmigration through inhibition of transcriptional factor NF-kB-mediated production of cytokines and adhesion molecules both in endothelial cells and inflammatory cells. (5) Catechins inhibit proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells by interfering with vascular cell growth factors involved in atherogenesis. (6) Catechins suppress platelet adhesion, thereby inhibiting thrombogenesis. Taken together, catechins may be novel plant-derived small molecules for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. This review highlights current developments in green tea extracts and vascular health, focusing specifically on the role of tea catechins in the prevention of various vascular diseases and the underlying mechanisms for these actions. In addition, the possible structure-activity relationship of catechins is discussed.
 
Adam23

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good read !!! thanks bro :xyxthumbs:
 
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Rageking

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sweet, guess ill drink up then :linedrunk:
 
Ironslave

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To note, white tea is the same, but with more EGCG, and imo, tastes better.
 
allstar

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All About Green Tea!

By: Dave Greaves

I have been a green tea fanatic long before the green tea craze hit the supplement market. Now every damn weight loss product on the market has stuck some green tea extract on their ingredient list. I believe you can get some benefit from supplementing this way but your not using the plants full potential. (see my comments at the end).

The Benefits Of Green Tea:

Green Tea Contains The Following:

Tannins - A group of simple and complex phenol, polyphenol, and flavonoid compounds. Produced by plants, all of the tannins are relatively resistant to digestion or fermentation. All tannins act as astringents, shrinking tissues and contracting structural proteins in the skin and mucosa.

What Does This Do For You?

Having a cup of green tea after a meal can aid in digestion. Green tea has been used for thousand of years in Asia as a digestive.

Catechins - Catechins are a category of polyphenols. In green tea, catechins are present in significant quantities, more specifically; epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin gallate (ECG) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG makes up about 10-50% of the total catechin content and appears to be the most powerful of the catechins - with antioxidant activity about 25-100 times more potent than vitamins C and E.

A cup of green tea may provide 10-40mg of polyphenols and has antioxidant activity greater than a serving of broccoli, spinach, carrots or strawberries.

What Does This Do For You?

Well having a powerful anti-oxidant coursing through your system after a heavy workout is just what you need to curb free radical damage.

Flavonoids - Flavonoids are plant pigments, and are the brightly colored chemical constituents found in most fresh fruits and vegetables. They may aid in protecting against infection. Deficiency can result in a tendency to bruise easily. Learn mor eabout flavonoids, click here!

What Does This Do For You?

Obviously your workouts will suffer if you are sick.

Theanine - An amino acid that produces tranquilizing effects in the brain, theanine is a unique amino acid found in the leaves sencha. Theanine is quite different from the polyphenol and catechin antioxidants for which green tea is typically consumed.

What Does This Do For You?

I can personally attest to the good feelings you get after a couple cups of green tea. It leaves you with a peaceful feeling without compromising motivation and mental activity.

Bodybuilding & Fitness Uses

Pre-workout - Green tea is a great alternative to the ECA stack. Yeah I know nothing beats the ECA stack but hear me out. A number of people, including myself do not like how the ECA stack makes us feel.

I get jittery and easily angered for some reason. The green tea is great because it does have some caffeine and the Theanine really relaxes you mentally but lets you perform physically.

Cutting - Research suggests that supplementing with green tea can raise your resting metabolic rate by 3%. In order to get this benefit you must have about about 3 glasses a day. If you have a bmr of 2000 or so that means 60 extra calories a day. Why do you see so few obese Asians. Its not the kung-fu. It's the green tea!

All About Tea

All teas come from the same source. The tea plant is a member of the Camellia family (Camellia sinensis). Black tea, oolong tea, and green tea are all derivatives of this one plant.

It is the way the tea is prepared that determines its color. After the tea plant is picked, it is fermented, and then heated to stop the fermentation process. This fermentation process is responsible for the caffine content of the tea. The longer it is fermented the more caffine the tea will have. Green tea has the least amount of caffine of all the teas because it is the least fermented. The reason why green tea has the most health benefits is because a longer fermentation process destroys many of the beneficial substances in the tea plant. That is why chugging your Lipton tea is not even remotely comparable to having a cup of green tea (Lipton is made from black tea).

Qualities Of Tea

There is a huge quality difference in tea. Tea has been compared to wine when it comes to grading. The crap you get when you buy a package of tea at the supermarket and the tea you can get in loose whole leaf form is worlds apart in taste and quality. When selecting tea to be put in bags and sold commercially, manufacturers select the cheapest and lowest quality grade available. The leaves are broken and packed into the small tea bags. Breaking the leaves apart like this degrades the taste and eliminates some of the healthful macronutrients.

I suggest ordering your tea in whole leaf form. Try to get organically grown green tea in loose leaf form for maximum benefit. If you do not like the taste of green tea supplementing is always and option.

Conclusion
 
allstar

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just a little bit to add about green tea
 
The_KM

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Thanks guys! Green tea keeps looking better and better.
 
tim290280

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Just remind me again exactly how many litres of tea a day I would need to drink to actually get the benefits of catechins? I mean the research is done on the individual compounds in concentrated doses, not the dose we would have in a cuppa.
 
allstar

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Green tea is particularly rich in health-promoting flavonoids (which account for 30% of the dry weight of a leaf), including catechins and their derivatives. The most abundant catechin in green tea is epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is thought to play a pivotal role in the green tea's anticancer and antioxidant effects. Catechins should be considered right alongside of the better-known antioxidants like vitamins E and C as potent free radical scavengers and health-supportive for this reason.

Most of the research showing the health benefits of green tea is based on the amount of green tea typically consumed in Asian countries-about 3 cups per day (which would provide 240-320 mg of polyphenols). Just one cup of green tea supplies 20-35 mg of EGCG, which has the highest antioxidant activity of all the green tea catechins.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=146
 
Johnny Bravo

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Just remind me again exactly how many litres of tea a day I would need to drink to actually get the benefits of catechins? I mean the research is done on the individual compounds in concentrated doses, not the dose we would have in a cuppa.

I'd like to know that as well.
 

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tim290280

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allstar said:
Green tea is particularly rich in health-promoting flavonoids (which account for 30% of the dry weight of a leaf), including catechins and their derivatives. The most abundant catechin in green tea is epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is thought to play a pivotal role in the green tea's anticancer and antioxidant effects. Catechins should be considered right alongside of the better-known antioxidants like vitamins E and C as potent free radical scavengers and health-supportive for this reason.

Most of the research showing the health benefits of green tea is based on the amount of green tea typically consumed in Asian countries-about 3 cups per day (which would provide 240-320 mg of polyphenols). Just one cup of green tea supplies 20-35 mg of EGCG, which has the highest antioxidant activity of all the green tea catechins.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?t...spice&dbid=146
Actually no it isn't.
Blood and urine levels of tea catechins after ingestion of different amounts of green tea by human volunteers
CS Yang, L Chen, MJ Lee, D Balentine, MC Kuo and SP Schantz
Laboratory for Cancer Research, College of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8020, USA.

The inhibitory activity of tea against tumorigenesis has been demonstrated in many animal models and has been suggested by some epidemiological studies. Such activity has generally been attributed to tea catechins. To understand the bioavailability of tea catechins in humans, we gave 18 individuals different amounts of green tea and measured the time-dependent plasma concentrations and urinary excretion of tea catechins. After taking 1.5, 3.0, and 4.5 g of decaffeinated green tea solids (dissolved in 500 ml of water), the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) was 326 ng/ml, the Cmax of (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC) was 550 ng/ml, and the Cmax of (-)-epicatechin (EC) was 190 ng/ml. These Cmax values were observed at 1.4-2.4 h after ingestion of the tea preparation. When the dosage was increased from 1.5 to 3.0 g, the Cmax values increased 2.7-3.4-fold, but increasing the dose to 4.5 g did not increase the Cmax values significantly, which suggested a saturation phenomenon. The half-life of EGCG (5.0-5.5 h) seemed to be higher than the half-life of EGC or EC (2.5-3.4 h). EGC and EC, but not EGCG, were excreted in the urine. Over 90% of the total urinary EGC and EC was excreted within 8 h. When the tea dosage was increased, the amount of EGC and EC excretion seemed to increase, but a clear dose-response relationship was not observed. The present study provides basic pharmacokinetic parameters of green tea catechins in humans; these parameters may be used to estimate the levels of these compounds after drinking tea.
By my math that would be a 100 fold difference (nano grams (10 to the power of -9) to micro grams (10 to the power of -3)).
 
allstar

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Are you saying the amount drinken is different, or that the studies come from the urine?
 
tim290280

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^^
palm-1.jpg
 
Ironslave

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Just remind me again exactly how many litres of tea a day I would need to drink to actually get the benefits of catechins? I mean the research is done on the individual compounds in concentrated doses, not the dose we would have in a cuppa.

Not that much, one study found that women who drank 5 or more cups (500 mL or more)/d had their risk for CVD death lowered by 31% compared to those who drank 1 cup (100 mL)/d of green tea. I'd say around 5 cups a day would be the good starting point.
 
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Not that much, one study found that women who drank 5 or more cups (500 mL or more)/d had their risk for CVD death lowered by 31% compared to those who drank 1 cup (100 mL)/d of green tea. I'd say around 5 cups a day would be the good starting point.

that is a lot though, i usually try and drink about 2 a day but 5 i dont see how i could even get that in.
 
Palmetto

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Where do ya'll get your green tea from? I'm not gonna go spend out the ass for that lipton green tea that is bottled.
 
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Where do ya'll get your green tea from? I'm not gonna go spend out the ass for that lipton green tea that is bottled.

Kroger :wutyousay:

buy the tea bags, you can make it iced if you want i guess
 
Palmetto

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I gotcha...I guess that was a dumb question.
 
Big_Guns_Lance

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Nice read, Thanks IS
 

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