Green Tea: The Best Medicine For High Cholesterol?

It was reportedly discovered by a Chinese emperor some 40 centuries ago. And, legend has it, the discovery was purely by accident. But that coincidental discovery has improved the health of people around the world, who have turned to green tea in particular to help soothe their pains, improve their digestion, alleviate their depression, boost their immune system, and perhaps even lengthen their lives.

But what is it that makes green tea so beneficial to human health?

The Ingredients of Success

Green tea is actually made up of a variety of ingredients. These include caffeine, vitamins, minerals, and oils. However, the most important ingredients are the polyphenols, especially one called EGCG, which is believed to improve health.

In fact, it is the polyphenols which make green tea so much more effective than other beverages in fighting disease and illness.

Green Tea and Cholesterol

There have been some intriguing studies indicating that green tea can be effective in the fight against high cholesterol. Specifically, the beverage reduces “bad” cholesterol and boosts “good” cholesterol, improving an individual’s overall cholesterol profile.

In addition, green tea appears to lower overall cholesterol levels, helping to reduce one’s risk of developing heart disease.

Similarly, green tea enhances cardiovascular health by improving the consistency of platelets in the blood.

Researchers have also found that green tea appears to protect against oxygen-induced damage to bad cholesterol.

Drinking green tea also seems to enhance antioxidant processes in the bloodstream.

Effect of Green Tea on Blood Fats

In recent years, much attention has been focused on blood fats and the effects of diet and exercise on their consistency. In an interesting study conducted at the Department of Public Health at the National Defense Medical College in Saitama, Japan, researchers S. Kono, K. Shinchi, N. Ikeda, F. Yanai, and K. Imanishi investigated the impact of green tea consumption on blood fats, also known as serum lipids.

The study was published in an article entitled, “Tea Consumption and Serum Lipid Profiles: a Cross-Sectional Study in Northern Kyushu, Japan.”

Specifically, the researchers examined the correlation between green tea use and the serum lipid concentrations of more than 1300 men who underwent retirement health exams at the Self-Defense Forces Fukuoka Hospital between 1986 and 1988.

The researchers factored out variables such as alcohol use, use of tobacco, exercise levels, body mass index, and rank.

They then discovered that the more green tea a patient drank, the lower his serum cholesterol levels. Men who drank nine or more cups of tea each day had total cholesterol levels that were eight mg/dl lower than those who drank two or fewer cups a day.

The serum cholesterol levels seemed to also decrease for men who ate a great deal of rice and soy beans, and increase for those who ate more Western foods.

However, adjusting for these additional diet variables did not seem to affect the correlation between green tea use and total cholesterol levels.

Additional Evidence from the Animal Kingdom

It’s been said that there is a definite link between diet and exercise and coronary heart disease. Therefore, anything in the diet that improves serum lipid profiles should reduce the incidence of heart problems.

It’s also known that green tea contains phytochemicals that work to decrease serum cholesterol as well as triglycerides.

In one animal study, 45 rats were subjected to a variety of treatments, including green tea. The study showed that consuming green tea improved the serum lipid profile by reducing total cholesterol, bad cholesterol, and trans fats. In addition, liver fat content decreased in rats that received a large amount of green tea.

Other Positive Effects of Green Tea Drinking

The polyphenols found in green tea may have some additional positive health effects. For instance, a number of animal and test tube studies indicate that these chemicals may have a substantial anti-cancer effect, especially in inhibiting the spread of melanoma, or skin cancer cells.

Green tea has also been linked to a reduction in oral cancers and dental cavities.

In addition, green tea may stimulate the production of immune system cells.

As a result, it can help the body fight bacteria, leading to improved overall health. In fact, one study showed that drinking ten or more cups of green tea each day could improve blood test results, protecting the body against liver damage.

How Much Green Tea is Enough?

Of course, you might be wondering how much green tea must be consumed in order to have a positive impact on health. In Asian nations, the typical tea drinker consumes about three cups each day-enough to provide as much as 320 mg of polyphenols.

Nevertheless, some studies indicate as many as ten cups each day are needed in order to really make a difference in cholesterol levels and overall health.

Possible Side Effects

It should be noted that there can be some negative side effects associated with green tea consumption. While green tea is a relatively healthy drink, those who consume several cups of it each day may experience anxiety and insomnia brought on by the caffeine found in the beverage.

Drinking green tea may also lead to iron deficiencies, since iron absorption in women may be reduced as much as 26 percent when green tea is consumed with a meal.

In addition, some drugs can interfere with green tea’s positive effects. Therefore, before switching to a diet rich in green tea, it may be best to check with a physician to determine if such a diet is right for you.

Looking to the Future

The forecast for green tea appears to be bright-as far as public health is concerned. Study after study seems to indicate that green tea can reduce cholesterol levels, combat cardiac disease, boost the immune system, and reduce the risk of cancer.

While additional study is needed in order to effectively harness all the benefits of green tea, it appears, for the moment, that simply adding a few cups of the brew to your daily diet can yield impressive health benefits.

Sustainable Medicine

Sustainability, broadly defined as the capacity to endure, has become a wide-ranging term that can be applied to almost every facet of life on earth, from a local to a global scale. For humans it is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which in turn depends on the wellbeing of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources. The incorporation of sustainability within the practice of medicine and dentistry is a newly emerging model of healthcare that ideally will be available to all persons and is good for people and the environment.

Sustainable healthcare is the practice of medicine and dentistry that recognizes the link between the environment, medicine and human health and seeks to provide better healthcare while protecting our limited environmental and medical resources. The sustainable, green approach to healthcare is much more comprehensive and more beneficial than a holistic approach alone. The following are the basic principles of ecologically sustainable medicine:

- Safe and harmless
- Clean and non-toxic
- Cost-effective
- Non-polluting
- Adaptable and flexible
- Accessible to all people
- Renewable
- Protective of the quality of life on earth, the environment and earth’s natural resources
- Synergistic with human health and planetary well-being
- Connected with the web of life

Conventional healthcare, in contrast, focuses on cure and specialization, costing more money and often limiting care to only those who can afford it. Conventional medicine places emphasis on treating the end points of disease rather than employing the precautionary principle and focusing on prevention and the link between human health and the environment. In addition, conventional healthcare consumes huge quantities of resources, which are becoming scarce and many of the waste products of healthcare actually do harm. The over-prescribing and misuse of pharmaceuticals, the improper disposal of pharmaceuticals, the incineration of bio-hazardous waste and the utilization of medical products containing environmental toxins, poses a serious threat to human health. There is an undeniable connection between our health and the environment. The environment, both locally and globally, both indoors and out, is a primary determinant to your health. The WHO (World Health Organization) puts the value of clean air, clean water and healthy land for uncontaminated food and recreation close to 60% of the primary basis for a healthy life, affecting you just as much as your genetic makeup!

The implementation of sustainable medicine and dentistry lies in two directions. One is the way of prevention, health promotion, and a public health priority. Here the focus will be on reducing the social and environmental problems that are now reckoned to be the most significant source of illness, disease, and premature death. The other direction is toward greater personal responsibility for health, laying upon individuals a far stronger obligation, backed by appropriate social and economic incentives, to take care of their health and simultaneously, laying upon society a stronger obligation to change those social and economic institutions that generate, or abet, poor health (D. Callahan, www.teleosis.org).

How can you incorporate sustainable healthcare into your everyday life?

- Eat healthy food, preferably organic and locally grown
- Engage in regular exercise, preferably outdoors, walk to places
- Rest regularly
- Understand your local environment (where are places for you to engage in active recreation, where are places that have hazards or risks that should be avoided)
- Purchase supplements and medications in small amounts (everything you buy has to be disposed of if unused)
- Choose personal care products (PCPs) that are natural and non-toxic (the improper disposal and overuse of PCPs and pharmaceuticals are posing a serious threat to our municipal water system and the ecosystem)
- Only use antibiotics when absolutely necessary and listen to your doctor
- Seek practitioners that endorse sustainable medicine and dentistry.

At ORA Dental Studio and ORA Oral Surgery & Implant Studio we are committed to the wellbeing of our patients, our team, our community, and the environment. We are proudly the first green group dental practice in the nation and have not only built green healing facilities, but practice green health care as well. For more information visit www.oradentalstudio.com and www.orasurgery.com.

Steven A. Koos D.D.S., M.D.