green tea tagged posts

Chemical compounds in foods or beverages like green tea, muscadine grapes and dark chocolate can bind to and block the function of a particular enzyme, or protease, in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to a new study by plant biologists at North Carolina State University.

Proteases are important to the health and viability of cells and viruses, says De-Yu Xie, professor of plant and microbial biology at NC State and the corresponding author of the study. If proteases are inhibited, cells cannot perform many important functions — like replication, for example.

“One of our lab’s focuses is to find nutraceuticals in food or medicinal plants tha...

Follow-up study in people underway. Green tea cut obesity and a number of inflammatory biomarkers linked with poor health in a new study. Mice fed a diet of 2% green tea extract fared far better than those that ate a diet without it, a finding that has prompted an upcoming study of green tea’s potential benefits in people at high risk of diabetes and heart disease.

The benefits seen in the new study, published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, appear to stem from improved gut health, including more beneficial microbes in the intestines of the mice and less permeability in the intestinal wall – a condition typically called “leaky gut” in people.

“This study provides evidence that green tea encourages the growth of good gut bacter...

Green tea. Credit: © KMNPhoto / Fotolia

New research identifies potential therapeutic intervention for memory impairment, neuroinflammation, and brain insulin resistance induced by high-fat, high-fructose diet. A study published online in The FASEB Journal, involving mice, suggests that EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate), the most abundant catechin and biologically active component in green tea, could alleviate high-fat and high-fructose (HFFD)-induced insulin resistance and cognitive impairment. Previous research pointed to the potential of EGCG to treat a variety of human diseases, yet until now, EGCG’s impact on insulin resistance and cognitive deficits triggered in the brain by a Western diet remained unclear.

“Green tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, an...

Green tea has great antioxidants, but experiments in a lab mouse model of IBD suggest that consuming green tea along with dietary iron may actually lessen green tea’s benefits. “If you drink green tea after an iron-rich meal, the main compound in the tea will bind to the iron,” said Matam Vijay-Kumar, assistant professor of nutritional sciences, Penn State. “When that occurs, the green tea loses its potential as an antioxidant. In order to get the benefits of green tea, it may be best to not consume it with iron-rich foods.” Iron-rich foods include red meat and dark leafy greens, such as kale and spinach, iron supplements.

Vijay-Kumar and colleagues found that EGCG – the main compound in green tea – potently inhibits myeloperoxidase, a pro-inflammatory enzyme released by white blood cells...