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Green tea has helped reduce obesity and a number of inflammatory biomarkers linked to poor health in a new study.
Mice fed a diet containing 2% green tea extract fared better than those who ate it, a discovery that prompted an upcoming study on the potential benefits of green tea in people with high risk of diabetes and heart disease.
The benefits found in the new study, published in the Diary of nutritional biochemistry, appear to come from an improvement in intestinal health, including more beneficial microbes in the intestines of mice and less permeability in the intestinal wall – a condition typically referred to as "leaky intestine" in humans.
"This study proves that green tea encourages the growth of good intestinal bacteria, which leads to a series of benefits that significantly reduce the risk of obesity," said Richard Bruno, lead author of the study. study and professor of human nutrition at The Ohio. State University.
Negative changes in the intestinal microbiome have already been badociated with obesity and it has been shown that green tea promotes the promotion of healthy bacteria. The Ohio State team sought to find out if there was an argument for a theology to prevent obesity, inflammation, and other factors related to poor metabolic health. said Bruno, also a member of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.
"The results of studies to date on the management of obesity have been very mixed.Some seem to support green tea for weight loss, but many other researches have shown no Indeed, probably because of the complexity of the diet compared to a number of lifestyle factors, our goal is to determine how it prevents weight gain, "he said. "This will lead to better health recommendations."
Green tea has a rich history in Asian countries and is increasingly adopted in the West, partly for its potential health benefits. Catechins, anti-inflammatory polyphenols found in green tea, have been linked to anticancer activity and a lower risk of heart and liver disease.
Bruno and his colleagues suspected green tea to prevent obesity and protect intestinal inflammation, based on previous studies. They therefore developed an experiment examining the effects of green tea in male mice fed a normal diet and a high-fat diet designed to cause obesity. . (Female mice are resistant to food-induced obesity and insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes, so they were not included.)
For eight weeks, half of the animals followed a high fat diet designed to cause obesity and the other half a regular diet. In each of these groups, half ate green tea extract mixed with their food.
The researchers then measured body weight and adipose tissue, insulin resistance, and other factors, including:
- Intestinal permeability, or how well the bowel was "pierced"
- The translocation of endotoxins, or the movement of a component derived from intestinal bacteria into the blood, causing inflammation and insulin resistance
- Inflammation in adipose tissue and intestines
- The composition of intestinal microbes, which are known to contribute to a variety of health factors
Mice on a high fat and green tea diet took 20% less weight and had lower insulin resistance than mice fed an otherwise identical diet without tea.
These mice also had less inflammation in adipose tissue and in the intestine. In addition, green tea appeared to protect against the movement of endotoxins, the toxic bacterial component, out of their intestines and into the bloodstream.
In addition, researchers found evidence of a stronger gut – less "leaking" – in these mice. Intestinal leaks are a problem in humans that contributes to generalized inflammation of low intensity and has been implicated in a number of health problems.
The researchers also found that green tea seemed to contribute to a healthier microbial community in the belly of mice fed a high-fat diet. Mice fed a normal or low-fat diet, supplemented with green tea, also have advantages, including reduced weight gain, lower endotoxin levels and markers of intestinal losses, but they were relatively modest compared to the effects observed in mice fed high fat diet. .
Consumption of green tea in the experience would be equivalent to about 10 cups of green tea a day for one person, said Bruno.
"It may sound like a lot of tea, but it's not very unusual in some parts of the world," he said.
Bruno is currently working on a human study that will explore the effects of green tea on intestinal leaks in people with metabolic syndrome – a condition that predisposes people to type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
For the moment, he said, it is too early to extrapolate to humans discoveries in animals. He also warned that – if the benefits were true in humans – green tea supplements would not be an obvious substitute for drinking during a day, because of the way the body metabolizes it. catechins in tea.
"Consuming a bit during a day with food – as the mice did in this study – could be better," said Bruno.
He hoped that future research will determine whether green tea consumption could be a good strategy for those seeking to reduce their risk of becoming obese.
"Two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, and we know that telling people to eat less and do more exercise does not work. complementary approaches to health promotion that can prevent obesity and related problems, "said Bruno.
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