Scientists at Oklahoma State University and the University Oklahoma Nutrition,USA reported that obese people with metabolic syndrome after drinking green tea or green tea extracts experienced a decrease in levels of alpha-amyloid, a protein which has been a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

35 obese people with Metabolic Syndrome participated in a randomized controlled trial. The participants, with a mean age of 42.5, were randomly assigned to 3 different groups. The control group was asked to have four cups of water per day while the 2 intervention groups were asked to consume either four cups of green tea per day or two capsules of green tea extracts per day all for a duration of eight weeks.Both sources of decaffeinated green tea (Camellia sinensis) were provided on an average daily dose of 450 mg of EGCG.

At the end of the study, researchers observed no difference in the various features of metabolic syndrome, such as biomarkers of inflammation. However, green tea interventions groups had reduced levels of amyloid alpha compared with those found in the control group,. Drinking green tea reduced the levels of amyloid alpha by 14.5 percent, while the extract reduced the levels of 24.6 percent after the eight weeks duration proving the positive effects of this ingredient.

Source: Nutrition
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2010.01.015
"Green tea minimally affects biomarkers of inflammation in obese subjects with metabolic syndrome"
Authors: A. Basu, M. Du, K. Sanchez, MJ Leyva, New Mexico Betts, S. Blevins, M. Wu, Aston CE, TJ Lyon