Just Your Cup of Tea
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Are you thirsty this morning? Are you having a good cup of tea for breakfast? Well, second only to water, it's the most widely consumed beverage in the world. And now, there's yet another reason to have a cup of green Earl Gray or Darjeeling. Did I pronounce that right, Dr. Sandra Fryhoffer? I'm not a tea expert. I have my cup of coffee.</s>DR. SANDRA FRYHOFFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You're soon to be, Carol, because...</s>COSTELLO: I'm ready.</s>FRYHOFFER: ... this new study has found that there's a substance in tea that seems to lower cholesterol levels. Now, this study was done by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and looked at 240 men and women with high cholesterol. These people were already on a low-fat diet and were randomly given either a capsule containing tea extracts or a sugar pill. And after only 12 weeks, this special tea extract seemed to lower the bad cholesterol level the HDL, about 16 percent. Now, in this study they weren't drinking the tea. They were getting this capsule with a super-duper (ph) mixture of extracts from both green and black tea. And are you ready for this, Carol? It would be equivalent to the amount that you would get from drinking 35 cups of black tea and 7 cups of green tea. So, don't try this at home yet.</s>COSTELLO: So, you'd have to drink more than 40 cups of tea per day to get these results with your cholesterol levels?</s>FRYHOFFER: Yes, and I hate to think what that would do to you, so don't try that at home like that.</s>COSTELLO: Especially if the tea had caffeine.</s>FRYHOFFER: Right, right.</s>COSTELLO: You'd be flying. Well, is this new? Because we've heard in the past that tea is good for your heart.</s>FRYHOFFER: You've got such a good memory. There was a study actually last year in the medical journal circulation that found that heavy tea drinkers -- and that would be people that drank 14 or more cups of tea a week -- were almost half as likely to die after a heart attack as compared to non-drinkers. And in the past there have been several studies that have linked tea to lower cholesterol levels. However, this is the first human study to actually find the tea product that lowers cholesterol.</s>COSTELLO: So, how exactly does the extract work at lowering your cholesterol level?</s>FRYHOFFER: You want to know that magic ingredient.</s>COSTELLO: I want to know the scientific explanation.</s>FRYHOFFER: OK, the magic ingredient is something called flavonoids. These are antioxidants, and they're found naturally in various foods that are derived from plants. And in animals, these tea extracts seemed to lower cholesterol levels by reducing intestinal absorption of cholesterol. They also helped the body clear cholesterol by increasing fecal excretion. In addition, they also prevent the HDL cholesterol, which is the bad cholesterol, from becoming super bad. The flavonoids also protect the heart by relaxing blood vessels, so the blood can flow more easily. They also seem to have an anti-clotting effect. Now, tea is the major source of flavonoids in the American diet, but certain fruits and vegetables, like apples, onions, broccoli, are also good sources of flavonoids. And the magic mixture, let me tell you exactly what was in these extracts. They used flavonoids from black tea called theaflavins, flavonoids from green tea called catechins and other tea antioxidants called polyphenols. Now, the next step would be larger studies, looking at it in a more diverse population to see if these results can be confirmed. So, for now, just drink a little cup of tea every once in a while. Don't overdo it. Please don't try 35 cups.</s>COSTELLO: I don't think I could do that.</s>FRYHOFFER: Eat your broccoli, too.</s>COSTELLO: Definitely so.</s>FRYHOFFER: And onions.</s>COSTELLO: Dr. Sandra Fryhoffer, many thanks.