Black tea extract may offer heart benefits

By Stephen Daniells

15-Jul-2008 - Extracts from black tea may reduce total cholesterol levels by nine per cent and LDL cholesterol levels by 12 per cent, according to a new study from Japan.

Consumption of the black tea extract (BTE) was also associated with beneficial changes in blood levels of triglycerides and body weight, according to results published in the journal Nutrition Reviews.

High cholesterol levels, hypercholesterolaemia, have a long association with many diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the number one killer on both sides of the Atlantic.

"The present study is the first to report that BTE (one gram per day) significantly lowered total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels in human subjects with borderline hypercholesterolemia in a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled study," wrote authors Hiroyuki Fujita and Tomohide Yamagami from the R&D Department of Nippon Supplement in Osaka.

The study involved 47 people with borderline hypercholesterolaemia assigned to receive the BTE or placebo for three months.

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