Low cholesterol with green tea

Green tea

In recent years Green tea has become more popular in the west where traditional tea consumption used to be more geared towards black tea. While many of us only heard about green tea a few years ago and with the increased popularity so comes the need to research the potential benefits of green tea in both medical as general health, this kind of tea has long been used in china and other Asian countries, Green tea originated from china over 4000 years ago.

Green tea is essentially tea like black tea with the difference that it has only undergone minimal oxidation unlike the traditional western black tea and not to be confused by Oolong tea either, oolong tea is somewhere in between green and black in terms of oxidation ranging from 10% to 75% oxidation.

The benefits of green tea

Green tea has a great many benefits according to recent research and more is found very frequently. But here are a few interesting things to know about green tea.

Green tea contains:

Catechins :

A category of polyphenols, present in significant quantities in green tea, especially EC, EGC and EGCG.

EGCG makes about 10-50% of the total catechin content of green tea and seems to be the most powerful catechins,  up to 100times as powerful as vitamin C and E.

Flavenoids

Plant pigments found in most fresh fruits and vegetables, they aid in protecting against infections, if you have a deficiency in this it can result in a tendency to bruise very easy.

Theanine

Theanine is an amino acid that will produce a tranquilizing effect in the brain, it’s a very unique amino acid found in leaves sencha. This will give you a good feeling when consuming green tea frequently.

Thannins

This is a group of complex and simple polyphenols, flavonoids and phenols, all of these are relative resistant to digestion and act as astringents, shrinking tissues and contracting structural proteins in the skin. This can help digestion if you have a cup of green tea after a meal.

All teas come from the same source, no matter if its black tea, green tea, white tea or oolong tea, it is all essentially the same plant just a different way or preparing that will determine the color and content of these leafs.

Green tea is the most beneficial due to the lack of fermentation which destroys most of the beneficial content of tea in the process. There is a huge difference between green and black because of this. The effect on things like cholesterol showing it has its place in a low cholesterol diet and other benefits of green tea will not nearly be as present in the others.

While no magic bullet in terms of any of the health benefits it does have a significant long-term effect on both health and cholesterol levels and here is a study that shows the effect of green tea on High cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. here is the link.

Modulation of Cholesterol Metabolism by the Green Tea Polyphenol

The study is aimed to find out more on how green tea is associated with lower plasma cholesterol levels. They aimed to find out more on how green tea modulates cholesterol metabolism.

EGCG was found to be the only catechin to increase the LDL cholesterol receptor which had as a direct result lowering the cellular cholesterol concentration and significantly reducing the cholesterol synthesis, which explains the reduction in cellular cholesterol

The conclusion of the study shows that EGCG might be its active constituent.

Green tea side effects include possible insomnia due to the fact that green tea contains some amounts of caffeine, while less than coffee it still adds up and should be avoided just before bed time

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The negative effect of tobacco

Tobacco

Was in use long before European settlers arrived and introduced it to Europe, often uses for  sacred ceremonial practices among the American tribes it is of no surprise that tobacco did not take long to become popular in Europe soon after its introduction.

Tobacco is a product created from dried leaves of a plant called genus Nicotiana, most commonly used as a drug tobacco can also be used as a pesticide.

The consumption of Tobacco by chewing, smoking or any other way has been known to cause certain negative effects and is consider to be the single greatest cause of preventable death worldwide, the use of tobacco often leads to diseases to heart, lungs and liver.

Smoking is the most popular way of consuming tobacco and smoking has been known to increase the risk factor for:

Heart Attacks

Strokes

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(copd)

Lung cancer, 
Cancers of the larynx 
Pancreatic cancer

Also a cause of vascular disease

Hypertension

Smokers tend to have a High cholesterol , high Triglycerides and high LDL and lower HDL cholesterol when compared to non-smokers.

The smoke caused by smoking has several products that bind to a person’s DNA and cause genetic mutations, tobacco also contains Nicotine which is highly addictive, making it extremely difficult for most people to stop smoking but considering the damage it causes the concept of quit smoking is far more interesting than just a way to reduce your cholesterol levels.

However we cannot ignore the fact that to quit smoking will improve your cholesterol levels and your blood lipid profile will improve greatly, HDL and LDL ratio and triglycerides will benefit if you succeed making this probably one of the few effects from smoking that are reverse-able if you can stop smoking in time.

The dose and time period a person smokes before he quit smoking often determines the change for any of the above. Even standing next to a person who is smoking can be enough to cause adverse effects in people for all ages

The world health organization made a estimated of over 100million deaths in the course of the 20^th century alone caused by the use of smoking  the total since it became available in Europe is likely to be much higher. Here is a study that is worth reading  published as early as 1989.

Cigarette smoking and serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations: an analysis of published data.

To examine the association between the use of smoking cigarettes in adults humans and serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations from the results of 54 different studies that have been published by then show a remarkable difference in serum cholesterol, people that where smoking had a  higher cholesterol, higher LDL a much higher VLDL and higher Triglycerides, while HDL was lower  compared to non-smokers.

 The numbers are:

Nonsmoker                       Light smoker                  Heavy smoker

Cholesterol

0                                             +1.8/4.3%                          +4.3%

Triglycerides

0                                             +10.7/11.5%                      +18.0%

VLDL

0                                             +7.2/44.4%                        +39%

LDL

0                                             -1.1/+1.4%                         +11%

HDL

0                                             -4.6/-6.3%                          -8.9%

Apo lipoprotein AI

0                                             -3.7%                                    -5.7%

When combined with the present study the conclusion was that smokers as a group face an average overall excess risk of coronary artery disease of +70%, estimated that cholesterol in smokers may account for at least 9% of that excess risk. It also shows that the increase in risk is dose-dependent. 

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Alcohol and HDL cholesterol

Alcohol

A product that has been used by many civilizations over the ages in many different products and many different religious ceremonies, nobody really knows who was the First to drink alcohol but we can probably guess this was over ten thousand years ago, archeological evidence suggest that fermented beverages existed at least as early as the Neolithic age (10 000 B.C.) wine has been known as early as Egyptian times of around 4.000 B.C. so we can safely say Alcohol has been consumed in some manner for most of our civilized history and may be a older then even bread.

Alcohol in general tends to have a lot of effects to the health of a person, depending on how much or how little this person drinks it in his daily life these are some(but not all) of the effects a person can expect when consuming alcohol including of course changes in HDL cholesterol.

Potential long term effects of consuming alcohol :

Minor Consumption                                   

Increased Insulin sensititivity                             

Lower risk of Diabetes                                      

Reduced number of silent brain Infarcts            

Increased HDL-cholesterol                             

Decreases thrombosis                                            

Reduced fibrinogen                                            

Increase fibrinolysis                                              

Increased coronary blood flow                            

Reduced risk of gallstones                                     

Reduced risk of kidney stones                      

Large Consumption

Cancer

Anemia

Hepatitis

Increased Risk of diabetes

Depression

Psychosis

Sleep Disorder

Liver cirrhosis

Anxiety

Chronic gastritis 

As you can see moderate consumption has some potential benefits but one should always be careful to not cross that tress hold into a alcohol addiction, a few glasses a day/week is plenty to achieve some of the potential benefits while a few bottles will give you serious issues over time.

Here is a study that shows some interesting effects on HDL cholesterol when consuming moderate amounts of alcohol.

Moderate Alcohol intake reduced bile cholesterol saturation and raises HDL cholesterol

This study published by the University of Bristol department of Medicine in 1983 shows the effect of alcohol on blood HDL cholesterol and bile cholesterol saturation in 12healthy volunteers.

The 12 volunteers where people with a very low alcohol intake and where given 39grams of alcohol a day for 6weeks, then abstained for another 6weeks.

The results where a significant rise of HDL cholesterol during the first  6week period wand reduced back when they had to abstain from alcohol the following 6weeks. From 41 to 49 mg/dl.

The conclusion of this study suggests that moderate alcohol intake may have some protective effects against both cardiovascular disease and cholesterol gallstones.

To quote center of Disease control and prevention

moderate alcohol consumption is defined as having up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men.

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The Effect of Mango

The Mango

Native to South Asia the mango fruit originated from the mango tree has become one of the most popular fruits in the World ranked fifth in total world production, while there are many kinds of mango for example the African mango the kind that is being cultivated worldwide is the Indian mango the same fruit is the national fruit of both India and Pakistan and the Philippines. It leaves are used in ritualistic ceremonies in many countries in Asia and people have been eating the mango for millennia or thousands of years and thus have a rich history with the local populations.

The Mango is a amazing fruit rich in dietary fiber, vitamin A and vitamin C, several B vitamins and contains several trace elements and fats that are vital for a healthy life, such as potassium copper and omega3-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. But we are here to show why adding the mango to your low cholesterol diet is a good idea so here is a study that shows the effect of what the fruit does to your High cholesterol. here is a link to this paper to show the effect of mango on cholesterol, hdl and ldl and lipid levels.

A study published in September 2001 about the suppressive effect of Mangiferine with exercise on blood lipids in type 2 diabetes. The study was performed on mice.

Materials MF was isolated by a conventional method as

previously reported.1) The structure of MF was confirmed by

the spectroscopic method.4) MF was stored at room temperature

until use.

Animals Male KK-Ay mice were used.

Under non-fasting, those with blood glucose

levels above 300 mg/dl were considered to be diabetic

and were used in this study. They were housed individually in

an air-conditioned room at an ambient temperature of

2262 °C with a 12 h light–dark cycle. The animals were kept

in this experimental animal room for 7 d with free access to

food and water.

To determine blood lipid levels, blood samples were taken

from the cavernous sinus using a capillary.

Exercise For exercise studies, KK-Ay mice were run on

a motorized treadmill, MF was administered

30 min before the exercise once a day. The administration

of MF was started at 13:00—14:00 pm. For exercise

studies, mice went without food. MF (30 mg/kg body weight)

was administered orally for 2 weeks.

Determination of Blood Cholesterol and Triglyceride

Level Blood cholesterol levels in mice were determined

using commercial reagents

the results were:

Effect of MF with Exercise on Blood Cholesterol in

KK-Ay Mice The mean blood cholesterol levels in KK-Ay

mice after oral administration of MF with exercise are shown

in Fig. 2. MF (30 mg/kg) with exercise decreased the blood

cholesterol level 2 weeks after the oral administration when

Effect of MF with Exercise on Blood Triglyceride in

KK-Ay Mice The hypo triglyceride effects of MF with exercise

in KK-Ay mice are shown in Fig. 3. MF (30 mg/kg) with

exercise decreased blood triglyceride at 2 weeks when compared

with the controls (p,0.01), MF only (p,0.05), and

exercise only (p,0.05).

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Almonds and lowering cholesterol

Almonds

This delicious little nut originates from the Levant, a region in the middle east alongside the east coast of the Mediterranean sea. This nut has been one of the first nut that was domesticated, spread by humans as far east as the Indus and nowadays grown as far west as California, in fact the united states are now the largest producers in the world for almonds.

Studies have indicated that almonds have a wide range of beneficial effects on your health if this little nut (or several other kinds of nuts) are included in your daily diet and this is of no surprise considering that this nut is stocked full of healthy cholesterol lowering fats, rich of vitamin E, dietary fiber, certain B vitamins and other essential minerals.

It is then of course no surprise that almonds have been studied extensively trough history but in recent years have been looked at more closely for the benefit this may give to people suffering from high cholesterol, considering some studies indicate that adding 25grams to your diet may give significant results already to cholesterol levels for example we have this study from 2005 out of Iran.

A low dose almond-based diet decreased LDL while preserving HDL

The aim of the study was to compare how almonds would affect your lipid profile or cholesterol and see what the effects where on the patients with high cholesterol or hyperlipidemic.

This study had a 8week dietary trial with both diets identical except for 25grams of almonds. The subjects did a diet for 4weeks then had a washout period then did the other diet for  4weeks.

The conclusion was that even a small dose of only 25grams was enough to provide a favorable lipid altering effect by the almonds.

On a side note: Wild Almonds that grow in the Levant are deadly and should never be eaten, they are more bitter then the domesticated kind and contain a deadly poison which might kill you even after eating only a few of them . how we started domestication was by selecting the sweet kind of this nut and use that instead but how they managed to pick them is unknown.

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