Green tea has been suggested to improve cardiovascular disease risk factors, including circulating lipid variables. However, current evidence is predominantly based on small, short-term randomized controlled trials conducted in diverse populations.
US Researchers published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition a study where they examined the efficacy and impact of green tea extract (GTE) supplementation high in epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on blood lipids in healthy postmenopausal women.
The study involved 1,075 women randomly assigned to receive placebo or the green tea extract supplement for 12 months. Results showed that, for the 936 women who completed this substudy, the green tea extract was associated with a 2.1% reduction in total cholesterol and a 4.1% reduction in LDL cholesterol, compared with increases of 0.7% and 0.9% in the placebo group, respectively.
