Drink Away Your Diabetes Risk with Green Tea

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Drink Away Your Diabetes Risk with Green Tea

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By: Lara Endreszl
Published: Sunday, 9 November 2008

As the temperatures continue to drop and we start to see our breath coming out in clouds in the cool air, most of us instinctively reach for something warm. Whether it’s the drive-thru at the local Starbucks, ordering a cup alongside your dinner, or simply putting the kettle on at home while cozying up to your blanket, consider drinking green tea to benefit your body and warm you up. Emerging research shows that green tea—just like chamomile tea’s antioxidants—potentially has ability to prevent type-1 diabetes.

Green tea has been shown to stop inflammation and prevent cell death and has been studied as a preventative cancer measure with heart healthy antioxidants, but it has been in the news lately in Florida with its decaffeinated version decreasing blood pressure and cholesterol, effectively lowering stress and chronic inflammation. In a different study published recently, 111 adults were given green tea capsules over three months with positive results compared to the placebo group. On a roll by lowering cholesterol and blood pressure levels in humans, researchers in Georgia used the antioxidant fighting power of green tea to challenge diabetes in mice.

Type-1 diabetes is the most common diabetes, also known as childhood onset diabetes and occurs when the pancreas stops producing insulin altogether (type-2 is when the insulin produced is used within the body incorrectly) and is a lifelong disease patients have to learn to monitor on their own with a specialized diet watching their sugar intake, insulin injections, and by keeping a regular healthy exercise routine.

The Medical College of Georgia in Augusta’s researchers tested the effects of a compound in green tea for its antioxidant qualities against mice infected with type-1 diabetes. Mice with Sjogren’s syndrome—an autoimmune disorder that attacks the glands that produce saliva and tears resulting in symptoms of an overly dry mouth and eyes—were also treated with the compound. Sjogren’s syndrome currently has no cure.

Dr. Stephen D. Hsu of Augusta’s Medical College of Georgia along with his team found that the compound EGCG reduced the intensity of the symptoms and delayed the eventual salivary gland damage associated with the presence of Sjogren’s syndrome. The research team also found that the salivary gland cells under attack by the body were multiplying rapidly but EGCG proved to slow down the process. This new study confirms previous hypotheses helpful in linking EGCG to preventable efforts against autoimmune diseases.

The results were similar when the placebo group was compared with the type-1 diabetes group of mice. After 16 weeks, Hsu and his researchers found that only 25 percent of the mice given the green tea extract (EGCG) ended up developing diabetes versus 67 percent of mice who developed diabetes that were only given water. At 22 weeks, however, the numbers steadily grew. The EGCG green tea group had 45 percent with diabetes and the plain water group had 78 percent developing the disease.

In a statement, Hsu says about the importance of the study regarding the outcome of diabetes, “Our study focused on Sjogren's syndrome, so learning that EGCG also can prevent and delay insulin-dependent type 1 diabetes was a big surprise." The surprise for Hsu’s group is great news for more upcoming research to take their findings and update them to focus directly on type-1 diabetes prevention. The researchers think that the results came out similar because both diabetes and Sjogren’s syndrome are autoimmune diseases, causing the body to attack itself.

These advances in research show pivotal findings in the incurable Sjogren’s syndrome and hold great potential to do the same for diabetes. With November being National Diabetes Month protect yourself now. Green tea isn’t just to drink with Chinese food these days, so stock up on your antioxidants by sipping your diabetes risk away.


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