Green tea is a very popular drink in Asian countries which has several putative health benefits. I recently had a conversation with an individual who asked me what effect green tea has on glucose tolerance. The results of this relatively recent study suggest that green tea may have some beneficial effects on glucose tolerance.
In addition to possible benefits for those with boderline type II diabetes, there are several other putative health benefits of drinking green tea.
Though there are varying levels of evidence for the following potential health benefits, here’s a list of some of the possible health benefits of green tea:
- anti-cancer properties
- improve immune system
- improve mental alertness
- lower stress hormones
- increase metabolic rate
Does green tea improve glucose tolerance/prevent type 2 diabetes?
“BACKGROUND: Green tea is widely consumed in Asian countries and is becoming increasingly popular in Western countries. Epidemiologically, it has been suggested that green tea consumption prevents type 2 diabetes. The present study was aimed at providing evidence of improvement in glucose metabolism in diabetic mice and healthy humans upon green tea consumption.”
“RESULTS: Green tea promoted glucose metabolism in healthy human volunteers at 1.5 g/body in oral glucose tolerance tests. Green tea also lowered blood glucose levels in diabetic db+/db+ mice and streptozotocin-diabetic mice 2-6 h after administration at 300 mg/kg without affecting serum insulin level..”
“CONCLUSION: The present study provides evidence that green tea has an antidiabetic effect. “
- Green tea may actually have an antidiabetic effect which suggests that people who do have diabetes or are borderline diabetic may want to consider drinking a cup or two of green tea each day.
- Considering that blood sugar levels rise following a meal, it may be optimal to try drinking green tea either just prior to eating a meal or during a meal–then see if it helps you to control your blood sugar.
Reference:
Tsuneki H, Ishizuka M, Terasawa M, Wu JB, Sasaoka T, Kimura I. Effect of green tea on blood glucose levels and serum proteomic patterns in diabetic (db/db) mice and on glucose metabolism in healthy humans. BMC Pharmacol. 2004 Aug 26;4:18.
About Jarret Morrow, M.D.
Any effect the green tea might have will be heavily outweighed by a possibly bad nutrition.
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