March 28, 2024

Not Safe for Everybody: The Hidden Risk of Green Tea Extract

They picked the Minnesota Green Tea Trial since it was a big, well-designed study of a distinct population.” Were still a long way from being able to anticipate who can securely take high-dose green tea extract,” said Samavat, who noted the threat of liver toxicity is just associated with high levels of green tea supplements and not with drinking green tea or even taking lower dosages of green tea extract. “Variations in this one genotype do not entirely describe the variations in liver enzyme modifications among study participants.

New research recommends that green tea extract can cause liver damage in a little subset of the population.
According to a recent research study, although taking high-dose green tea extract for an extended period might provide some defense against cancer, cardiovascular disease, weight problems, and type 2 diabetes, it may also cause liver damage in a little group of people.
Who is at risk? Research from Rutgers, released in The Journal of Dietary Supplements, offers the very first solid clue: two genetic variations that predict some of the threat.
” Learning to predict who will suffer liver damage is potentially crucial because theres growing proof that high-dose green tea extract may have substantial health benefits for those who can safely take it,” stated Hamed Samavat, senior author of the research study and an assistant teacher of nutrition sciences at the Rutgers School of Health Professions.

Using data from the Minnesota Green Tea Trial, a big study of green teas result on breast cancer, the research team examined whether people with particular hereditary variations were more most likely than others to reveal signs of liver tension after a year of consuming 843 milligrams each day of the predominant anti-oxidant in green tea, a catechin called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).
Researchers led by Laura Acosta, then a doctoral student, now a graduate, selected 2 genetic variations in concern due to the fact that each controls the synthesis of an enzyme that breaks EGCG down. They picked the Minnesota Green Tea Trial since it was a large, well-designed research study of a special population. The year-long, placebo-controlled trial consisted of more than 1,000 postmenopausal females and collected information at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.
An analysis by researchers revealed that early indications of liver damage were somewhat more typical than normal in women with one variation in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genotype and highly anticipated by a variation in the uridine 5- diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase 1A4 (UGT1A4) genotype.
Usually, participants with the high-risk UGT1A4 genotype saw the enzyme that indicates liver stress go up nearly 80 percent after nine months of consuming the green tea supplement, while those with low-risk genotypes saw the same enzyme increase 30 percent.
” Were still a long method from having the ability to forecast who can securely take high-dose green tea extract,” stated Samavat, who kept in mind the threat of liver toxicity is only connected with high levels of green tea supplements and not with drinking green tea and even taking lower dosages of green tea extract. “Variations in this one genotype do not totally describe the variations in liver enzyme modifications among study participants. The full description probably includes a variety of different genetic variations and probably a variety of non-genetic factors.”
” Still,” Samavat continued, “we do believe we have recognized an important piece of the puzzle and taken an action toward forecasting who can securely enjoy any health advantages that high-dose green tea extract offers.”
Reference: “Hepatotoxicity with High-Dose Green Tea Extract: Effect of Catechol-O-Methyltransferase and Uridine 5- Diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase 1A4 Genotypes” by Laura Acosta, Laura Byham-Gray, Mindy Kurzer and Hamed Samavat, 30 September 2022, Journal of Dietary Supplements.DOI: 10.1080/ 19390211.2022.2128501.