Green Tea Alters
Hormone Levels
Studies have
highlighted the numerous health benefits of drinking green tea. Now,
a new study suggests a compound found in green tea also affects the
hormones that control appetite and prostate-cancer
risk.
The compound is called
epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG. Researchers at the University of
Chicago's Tang Center for Herbal Medicine Research studied the
effects EGCG had in rats and found the potent compound led to
appetite loss in rats. In fact, the rats fed EGCG ate up to 60
percent less food after receiving injections for seven
days.
EGCG reduced the rats'
appetite by causing levels of a hormone called leptin to drop.
Leptin controls appetite and has been a focus in research to help
treat obesity.
Researchers
also discovered the green-tea compound affected testosterone levels.
The prostates of healthy rats fed EGCG shrunk by 70 percent,
researchers report. This compound could be useful in reducing an enlarged
prostate or lowering the risk of prostate cancer, which is
associated with high testosterone levels, researchers
suggest.
But don't put on
water for tea just yet. "A person would have to drink green tea
almost constantly to obtain these results," says lead researcher
Shutsung Liao. "And since some of the hormonal changes we saw in
rats could have negative effects, especially in younger people, I
don't recommend drinking large quantities of green tea for
everybody."
This study is
published in the March issue of
Endocrinology.
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