09/03/2021
Protecting your heart health may be as simple as enjoying a nice cuppa. Regular consumption of tea (Camellia sinensis), and particularly green tea, is associated with a significant reduction in cardiovascular risk in epidemiological studies. This risk reduction has also been confirmed in experimental studies. Tea contains a range of antioxidant and bioactive phytochemicals, including epicatechin, catechin, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), theaflavins, flavonoids, procyanidins and phenolic acids. These phytochemicals protect cardiovascular health through a range of mechanisms, including lowering blood lipid levels, ameliorating cardiac ischemia, attenuating oxidative stress, enhancing endothelial function, relieving inflammation, and protecting cardiomyocyte function. These effects are seen with brewed tea and with green tea extracts.
Green tea extracts combine well with other antioxidant herbs including Vitis vinifera (grapeseed), Curcuma longa (turmeric) and Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) to promote cardiovascular health long term.
Cao SY, Zhao CN, Gan RY, Xu XY, Wei XL, Corke H, Atanasov AG, Li HB. Effects and mechanisms of tea and its bioactive compounds for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases: An updated review. Antioxidants. 2019 Jun;8(6):166.
https://res.mdpi.com/d_attachment/antioxidants/antioxidants-08-00166/article_deploy/antioxidants-08-00166-v2.pdf