Green Tea and Blood Sugar Lowering

How far green tea can affect blood sugar?

Now, first of all I want to remind you that green tea is made from unfermented leaves. Thus, it contains polyphenols (powerful antioxidants) in the highest concentration.

As green tea has been used since ancient times for various health purposes, it was also used to control blood sugar levels.

In case you are not a diabetic yet, green tea can help prevent type 1 diabetes onset. Even though you’re a type 1 diabetic, green tea may still help you slowing down its progression. Various research studies conducted in animals has come out with these results.

If you are a type 2 diabetic, you can also get profits from green tea. Actually, in one study conducted from Human Nutrition Research Centre at Tufts University, 8 type 2 diabetic patients were advised to drink 6 cups of tea a day for eight consecutive weeks. At the end of the study, it was noticed a reduction in their blood sugar levels by 15 to 20 percent.

Other action of green tea polyphenols is to promote the secretion of your body insulin and at the same time, to prohibit the intestinal uptake of sugars leading to lowering of your blood glucose levels.

Are there any other way that green tea can affect diabetes?

Yes, there exist other ways through which green tea can influence indirectly the lowering of your blood sugar levels:

One particular way is by helping you to loose weight. Many clinical trials suggest that green tea may improve metabolism and at the same time, can help you burn fat.

Researchers have come with the idea that catechins (substances found in green tea) are specifically responsible for the fat-burning effect of green tea.

In addition, if you have diabetes or are at high risk to have it in the future, you have also an impaired balance of your body fats. Here comes the help of green tea.

It can help lowering your total cholesterol and increasing you HDL – cholesterol (good one) levels. Thus, you’ll be protected and away from high cholesterol problems .

Actually, green tea polyphenols inhibit the intestinal absorption of cholesterol and at the same time can stimulate its excretion from your body.

In fact, in one study carried out in smokers, it came out that drinking green tea could reduce the LDL – cholesterol level.

One last thing I want to remind you. If you decide to plan green tea drinking, please consult your doctor first. Green tea contains caffeine which might have undesirable effects on your body.

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