Cross sectional study of effects of drinking green tea on cardiovascular and liver diseases.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the association between consumption of green tea and various serum markers in a Japanese population, with special reference to preventive effects of green tea against cardiovascular disease and disorders of the liver. DESIGN Cross sectional study. SETTING Yoshimi, Japan. SUBJECTS 1371 men aged over 40 years resident in Yoshimi and surveyed on their living habits including daily consumption of green tea. Their peripheral blood samples were subjected to several biochemical assays. RESULTS Increased consumption of green tea was associated with decreased serum concentrations of total cholesterol (P for trend < 0.001) and triglyceride (P for trend = 0.02) and an increased proportion of high density lipoprotein cholesterol together with a decreased proportion of low and very low lipoprotein cholesterols (P for trend = 0.02), which resulted in a decreased atherogenic index (P for trend = 0.02). Moreover, increased consumption of green tea, especially more than 10 cups a day, was related to decreased concentrations of hepatological markers in serum, aspartate aminotransferase (P for trend = 0.06), alanine transferase (P for trend = 0.07), and ferritin (P for trend = 0.02). CONCLUSION The inverse association between consumption of green tea and various serum markers shows that green tea may act protectively against cardiovascular disease and disorders of the liver.