Green tea to control blood sugar

Your patient is a 44-year-old male on no medication with no medical problems. He is extremely anxious about the test results you just gave to him. The last thing you need at the end of an exhausting week is one of the “worried well.” But maybe you can help.

The patient’s blood sugar is 119. He exercises daily, has a “walking workstation” in his office, and has body mass index of 23.5. You are diplomatic and compassionate as you give your speech about impaired fasting glucose. He tells you he does not want to take any medicine and wonders what he can do to reduce his blood glucose level.

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials was recently conducted and published evaluating the effects of green tea and green tea extract on glucose control and insulin sensitivity. Investigators identified 17 trials comprising a total of 1,133 subjects.

Green tea consumption significantly reduced the fasting glucose and hemoglobin Ale concentration by -1.62 and -0.30 percent respectively.

Green tea or Camellia sinensis, is a rich source of flavonols. Catechins are the predominant form of flavonols. The most abundant and most studied catechin in green tea is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is the most pharmacologically active compound in green tea with the largest beneficial health effects. EGCG has been observed to decrease fat mass, decrease endothelial cell dysfunction, improve insulin sensitivity, decrease cholesterol absorption and improve nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

So how much green tea should somebody consume to reduce blood sugars? Another meta-analysis of 324,141 participants and 11.400 incident cases of type 2 diabetes suggested that individuals who drank about 4 cups of tea per day had a 20 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes compares with those who drank less or none.

Green tea is an acquired taste. But you feel confident that this patient will quickly acquire it. As you dismiss the patient, you walk toward the microwave to heat up another cup of green tea.