New research in people with a cluster of heart disease risk factors has shown that consuming green tea extract for four weeks can reduce blood sugar levels and improve gut health by lowering inflammation and decreasing ‘leaky gut.’
Key Findings
- Green tea extract can reduce blood sugar levels and improve gut health in people with metabolic syndrome.
- Green tea extract reduces gut inflammation and decreases ‘leaky gut.’
- Green tea extract may help manage or reverse metabolic syndrome.
Recommendations
- If you have metabolic syndrome, talk to your doctor about whether green tea extract is right for you.
- You can also try drinking 5 cups of green tea per day.
New research suggests that green tea extract may have positive effects on gut health and blood sugar levels in people with metabolic syndrome. This is the first study to investigate whether green tea’s anti-inflammatory benefits in the gut can reduce the health risks associated with metabolic syndrome.
The study was conducted in 40 participants who consumed green tea extract for four weeks. Results showed that green tea extract significantly lowered fasting blood glucose levels and reduced gut inflammation in all participants.
These benefits could potentially help manage or reverse metabolic syndrome, which is diagnosed in people with at least three of five risk factors, including excess belly fat, high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol, and high levels of fasting blood glucose and triglycerides.
Green tea extract also reduced gut permeability, which could help alleviate low-grade inflammation that initiates cardiometabolic disorders. The daily dose of green tea extract consumed by participants in the study equaled five cups of green tea, and the extract was rich in anti-inflammatory compounds called catechins.