RedCon1 – A Deeper Look into EGCG (Green Tea Extract) Part II

RedCon1 – A Deeper Look into EGCG (Green Tea Extract) Part II

The last points I want to cover are its effects on fasting glucose levels and cognition. In regards to fasting glucose levels, the very interesting part is just how much of an interaction EGCG has with carbohydrate metabolism. It has been show to have favorable partitioning effects by suppressing adipocyte GLUT4 translocation and stimulating myocyte GLUT4 translocation. This was seen in a piece of literature from Hitoshi et al that concluded by saying “green tea modulates the glucose uptake system in adipose tissue and skeletal muscle and suppresses the expression and/or activation of adipogenesis-related transcription factors, as the possible mechanisms of its anti-obesity actions” (12.) This can mean that taking EGCG in a fed state may not be a bad idea. In regards to EGCG’s effects on cognition, we see it once again has the vast potential for overall learning and memory increases. EGCG very easily crosses the blood brain barrier. Once it does, brain activity is increasing for a few hours following ingestion. Park and colleagues actually looked at the popular combination of green tea extract and l-theanine (LGNC-07.) This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study on the effect of LGNC-07 on memory and attention in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI.) Ninety-one MCI subjects whose Mini Mental State Examination-K (MMSE-K) scores were between 21 and 26 and who were in either stage 2 or 3 on the Global Deterioration Scale were enrolled in this study. The treatment group (13 men, 32 women; 57.58 ± 9.45 years) took 1,680 mg of LGNC-07, and the placebo group (12 men, 34 women; 56.28 ± 9.92 years) received an equivalent amount of maltodextrin and lactose for 16 weeks. Neuropsychological tests (Rey-Kim memory test and Stroop color-word test) and electroencephalography were conducted to evaluate the effect of LGNC-07 on memory and attention. Further analyses were stratified by baseline severity to evaluate treatment response on the degree of impairment (MMSE-K 21-23 and 24-26). LGNC-07 led to improvements in memory by marginally increasing delayed recognition in the Rey-Kim memory test (P = .0572). Stratified analyses showed that LGNC-07 improved memory and selective attention by significantly increasing the Rey-Kim memory quotient and word reading in the subjects with MMSE-K scores of 21-23 (LGNC-07, n = 11; placebo, n = 9). Electroencephalograms were recorded in 24 randomly selected subjects hourly for 3 hours in eye-open, eye-closed, and reading states after a single dose of LGNC-07 (LGNC-07, n = 12; placebo, n = 12). Brain theta waves, an indicator of cognitive alertness, were increased significantly in the temporal, frontal, parietal, and occipital areas after 3 hours in the eye-open and reading states. Therefore, this study suggests that LGNC-07 has potential as an intervention for cognitive improvement (13.)

As it is abundantly clear, EGCG possesses more than enough reasons to give it a further analysis and possibly implement it into your own supplement regimen. From having possibly positive body composition effects to its anti-cancer, anti-obesity, positive blood pressure, decrease in insulin secretion, increased cerebral blood flow, and decreased glucose levels, it clearly has its place. As I’ve stated before, there are an endless amount of beneficial health supplements. I merely want to shed light on some of the ones I feel deserve more credit as well as a proper understanding before deciding or not deciding to utilize them.

References

1. Absorption, distribution, elimination of tea polyphenols in rats. L. Chen, M. J. Lee, H. Li, C. S. Yang. Drug Metab Dispos. 1997 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9311619)
2. Food Inhibits the Oral Bioavailability of the Major Green Tea Antioxidant Epigallocatechin Gallate in Humans. Nenad Naumovski, Barbara L. Blades, Paul D. Roach. Antioxidants (Basel) 2015 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26783711)
3. Effects of dosing condition on the oral bioavailability of green tea catechins after single-dose administration of Polyphenon E in healthy individuals. H-H Sherry Chow, Iman A. Hakim, Donna R. Vining, James A. Crowell, James Ranger-Moore, Wade M. Chew, Catherine A. Celaya, Steven R. Rodney, Yukihiko Hara, David S. Alberts. Clin Cancer Res. 2005 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15958649)
4. Inhibitory effects of green tea and grape juice on the phenol sulfotransferase activity of mouse intestines and human colon carcinoma cell line, Caco-2. H. Tamura, M. Matsui. Biol Pharm Bull. 2000 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10864017)
5. Pharmacokinetics of tea catechins after ingestion of green tea and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate by humans: formation of different metabolites and individual variability. Mao-Jung Lee, Pius Maliakal, Laishun Chen, Xiaofeng Meng, Flordeliza Y. Bondoc, Saileta Prabhu, George Lambert, Sandra Mohr, Chung S. Yang. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2002 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12376503)
6. The green tea polyphenol, epigallocatechin-3-gallate inhibits telomerase and induces apoptosis in drug-resistant lung cancer cells. David Sadava, Elizabeth Whitlock, Susan E. Kane. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2007  (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17585882)
7. Green tea constituent (–)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate inhibits topoisomerase I activity in human colon carcinoma cells. S. J. Berger, S. Gupta, C. A. Belfi, D. M. Gosky, H. Mukhtar. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2001 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11594758)
8. Growth inhibition, cell-cycle dysregulation, and induction of apoptosis by green tea constituent (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate in androgen-sensitive and androgen-insensitive human prostate carcinoma cells. S. Gupta, N. Ahmad, A. L. Nieminen, H. Mukhtar. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2000 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10739747)
9. Effects of catechin enriched green tea on body composition. Hongqiang Wang, Yibo Wen, Yaping Du, Xiuyuan Yan, Hongwei Guo, Jane A. Rycroft, Niels Boon, Eva M. R. Kovacs, David J. Mela. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2010 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19680234)
10. Effect of 2 month controlled green tea intervention on lipoprotein cholesterol, glucose, and hormone levels in healthy postmenopausal women. Anna H. Wu, Darcy Spicer, Frank Z. Stanczyk, Chiu-chen Tseng, Chung S. Yang, Malcolm C. Pike. Cancer Prev Res (Phila. 2013 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22246619)
11. Selective inhibition of steroid 5 alpha-reductase isozymes by tea epicatechin-3-gallate and epigallocatechin-3-gallate. S. Liao, R. A. Hiipakka. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1995 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7575552)
12. Anti-obesity actions of green tea: possible involvements in modulation of the glucose uptake system and suppression of the adipogenesis-related transcription factors. Hitoshi Ashida, Takashi Furuyashiki, Hironobu Nagayasu, Hiroaki Bessho, Hiroyuki Sakakibara, Takashi Hashimoto, Kazuki Kanazawa. Biofactors. 2004 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15630268)
13. A combination of green tea extract and l-theanine improves memory and attention in subjects with mild cognitive impairment: a double-blind placebo-controlled study. Sang-Ki Park, In-Chul Jung, Won Kyung Lee, Young Sun Lee, Hyoung Kook Park, Hyo Jin Go, Kiseong Kim, Nam Kyoo Lim, Jin Tae Hong, Sun Yung Ly, et al. J Med Food. 2011 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21303262)