Drinking green tea is beneficial for health. According to a study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, consuming green tea daily leads to a reduction in ‘bad’ cholesterol , confirming what had been said until now: its consumption favors a lower cardiovascular risk.
The research includes the results of 14 previous trials.
In each, the experts randomly divided people into two groups: those who had drunk tea or an extract for periods between three weeks and three months, and one with a placebo.
Catechins limit the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines
On average, the green tea drinkers finished the studies with 7.2 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) less cholesterol than the control groups.
The reduction in LDL cholesterol or ‘bad’ cholesterol was 2.2 mg/dL, a drop of just under 2%. In contrast, there was little difference in the level of HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol between the groups.
This cholesterol-lowering effect would be due, according to the authors, to chemical substances called catechins , present in green tea, which limit the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines.
