Randomized controlled trial of the effects of consumption of 'Yabukita' or 'Benifuuki' encapsulated tea-powder on low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level and body weight

Yuko Igarashi; Taku Obara; Mami Ishikuro; Hiroko Matsubara; Michiko Shigihara; Hirohito Metoki; Masahiro Kikuya; Yoichi Sameshima; Hirofumi Tachibana; Mari Maeda-Yamamoto; Shinichi Kuriyama

doi:10.1080/16546628.2017.1334484

Randomized controlled trial of the effects of consumption of 'Yabukita' or 'Benifuuki' encapsulated tea-powder on low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level and body weight

Food Nutr Res. 2017 Jun 19;61(1):1334484. doi: 10.1080/16546628.2017.1334484. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Yuko Igarashi¹, Taku Obara^{1

2

3}, Mami Ishikuro^{1

2}, Hiroko Matsubara⁴, Michiko Shigihara², Hirohito Metoki², Masahiro Kikuya^{1

2}, Yoichi Sameshima⁵, Hirofumi Tachibana⁶, Mari Maeda-Yamamoto⁷, Shinichi Kuriyama^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Epidemiology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
² Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
³ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University Hospital, Sendai, Japan.
⁴ International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, Omaezaki Municipal Hospital, Omaezaki, Japan.
⁶ Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
⁷ Food Research Institute, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Ibaraki, Japan.

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have reported controversial results for the association between green tea consumption and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and body weight. Objective: The objective of this trial was to determine the effects of two kinds of green tea on LDL-cholesterol and body weight. Methods: We randomly assigned 151 participants (98 men, 53 women) aged 30-70 years into three groups: Yabukita green tea group, Benifuuki green tea group, or placebo group. Participants consumed 1.8 g/day of green tea extract powder or placebo for 12 weeks. The primary outcomes were LDL-cholesterol level and body weight, and the secondary outcomes were risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Results: Both Yabukita and Benifuuki green tea significantly lowered LDL-cholesterol. The magnitudes of the lipid-lowering effect of both types of tea were significantly larger than that of placebo. No differences with respect to changes in LDL-cholesterol were observed between the Yabukita and Benifuuki green tea groups. Neither Yabukita nor Benifuuki green tea had any effect on body weight and no difference was observed among groups regarding changes in body weight. Conclusion: Both Yabukita and Benifuuki green tea lowered LDL-cholesterol, and the lipid-lowering effects of these two green teas were not different. Neither tea lowered body weight.

Keywords: Benifuuki green tea; Green tea; O-methylated epigallocatechin gallate; cardiovascular disease; dyslipidemia.

Grants and funding

This work was conducted as part of The Kakegawa Study, which was supported by a research and development grant for projects promoting new policies in agriculture, forestry and fisheries from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan [grant number 21028].