With St. Patrick’s Day upon us, ADRLF offers a great liver-friendly idea for your wear-green-or-be-pinched tradition: GREEN TEA! Why? Let’s take a look at this new study that shows the liver health benefits of green tea and exercise.

Green tea is known to be rich in polyphenols and natural antioxidants—linking this popular drink to weight loss and anti-aging. A recent study from Penn State found that green tea combined with exercise decreases the severity of obesity-related fatty liver disease, making this combo a promising health strategy.

“By examining the livers of these mice after the study concluded, and by screening their feces during the research, we saw that the mice that consumed green tea extract and exercised actually were processing nutrients differently, and their bodies were handling food differently,” said Joshua Lambert, associate professor of food science. For years, his research team has been looking into the health benefits of polyphenols from green tea, avocados, cocoa, and other sources.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which is the build-up of extra fat in liver cells, affects about 100 million people in the United States alone. It is a significant global health problem that is expected to worsen considering the high prevalence of risk factors such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. No validated therapy is available for this disease.

In this study, mice were given a high-fat diet for 16 weeks. Those that were given green tea extract and exercised regularly by running on a wheel were found to have just a quarter of the lipid deposits in their livers compared with those seen in the livers of a control group of mice. The mice that were treated with green tea extract alone or exercise alone had roughly half as much fat in their livers as the control group.

Lambert and his colleagues also measured the protein and fat content in the mice feces, and found that the mice that consumed green tea extract and exercised had evacuated higher lipid content and protein levels.

“We think the polyphenols in green tea interact with digestive enzymes secreted in the small intestine and partially inhibit the breakdown of carbohydrates, fat and protein in food,” Lambert explained. “So, if a mouse doesn’t digest the fat in its diet, that fat and the calories associated with it pass through the mouse’s digestive system…” And from this natural process, a certain percentage becomes waste matter.

Previous studies have looked into the benefits of polyphenols, and that found in green tea may suppress certain tumor cells across the body. A 2018 review that evaluated green tea research over the past decade found that people who regularly consumed green tea had significantly lowered risk of developing breast cancer.

Lambert cautioned that additional research is needed to learn more about the full impact of combined green tea extract consumption and exercise in reducing fat deposits in the liver.

“I believe people should engage in more physical activity, and replacing high-calorie beverages with decaffeinated, diet green tea, which has no calories, is a smart move,” he said. “Combining the two might have health benefits for people, but we don’t have the clinical data yet.” ADRLF looks forward to learning about more encouraging studies on healthy sipping!

For other liver-healthy GREEN drinks for St. Patrick’s Day, click here

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