Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a typical chronic liver disease highly correlated with metabolic syndrome. Growing prevalence of NAFLD is supposed to be linked with the unhealthy lifestyle, especially high-calorie diet and lacking enough exercise. Currently, there is no validated pharmacological therapy for NAFLD except for weight reduction. However, many dietary strategies had preventive effects on the development of liver steatosis or its progression. As one of the most common beverages, green tea contains abundant bioactive compounds possessing antioxidant, lipid-lowering, and anti-inflammatory effects, as well as improving insulin resistance and gut dysbiosis that can alleviate the risk of NAFLD. Hence, in this review, we summarized the studies of green tea and its components on NAFLD from animal experiments and human interventions and discussed the potential mechanisms. Available evidence suggested that tea consumption is promising to prevent NAFLD, and further mechanisms and clinical studies need to be investigated.
Keywords: (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate; NAFLD; NASH; green tea; preventive efficiency.