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Green tea restricts the increase of blood cholesterol
Cholesterol is always indicted as the "bad guyn for causing a wide
range of diseases in adults. But it is a chemical present in all animals
and crucial in human bodies for such important processes as the manufacture
of cell membranes and the adhesion of cells. There are two types of cholesterol:
one is the so-called bad cholesterol (LDL and VLDL- cholesterol) that accumulates
in tissues and the other is the "good, cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol)
that collects excessive cholesterol from the tissues. If the amount of
bad cholesterol in the blood increases too much, it is deposited on the
walls of blood vessels and can lead to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis
in conjunction with high blood pressure can cause myocardial infarction
and cerebral infarction. Good cholesterol, however, prevents atherosclerosis
and must exist in a proper balance with bad cholesterol for proper health.
Prof. Muramatsu, has demonstrated in experiments with rats that green tea
catechin restricts the excessive buildup of blood cholesterol. When rats
were fed a diet high in fat, the amount of bad cholesterol in the blood
increased rapidly. But the addition of only 1% catechin to the food checked
the increase of bad cholesterol (LDL) with only minimal effect on the amount
of good cholesterol. In another series of experiments, rats fed normal
food with catechin exhibited no decrease in blood cholesterol and remained
unaffected by the supplement. We can see from these results that green
tea catechin acts to limit the excessive rise in blood cholesterol. Recently
Dr. Goto reported similar results for human blood cholesterol.
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