Green Tea Benefits for the Liver

Green tea, made from the dried leaves of the evergreen shrub Camellia sinensis, dates back at least 5,000 years. There are three main categories of tea: green, black and oolong tea. While they come from the same plant, green tea produced from unfermented leaves has the highest concentration of antioxidants. The intense concentration of antioxidants in green tea offers several health benefits for the liver.

Mitigates the Ravages of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

• Today, some two-thirds of all Americans are overweight, and one in three can be classified as obese. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [NAFLD) is widespread among the overweight and diabetic. A recent study appearing in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of Nutrition describes findings confirming that green tea protects against nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in mice. In the study, genetically obese mice were fed green tea extract at doses equivalent to 3 to 7 cups of green tea each day for six weeks. Green tea blocked the amount of fat stored in the livers of the obese mice, reversed decline of the liver's antioxidant defenses and improved liver function.

Prevents Oxidative Stress Caused by Alcohol

• Green tea contains antioxidents that protect again liver damage.

  Alcohol in the body produces damaging free radicals that overwhelm the liver's supply of antioxidants, resulting in liver injury. Numerous research studies support the conclusion that green tea blunts the harmful effects of alcohol in rats. One such study published in the March-April 2002 issue of Biological Chemistry found that rats fed high levels of alcohol as well as green tea extract were protected from early, alcohol-induced liver injury. An extended investigation involving human subjects, reported in the December 2009 issue of Cancer Causes and Control, tracked 41,761 Japanese adults 40 to 79 years old over a nine-year period. This study is significant because it considered several variables that included not only green tea consumption, but also alcohol consumption, smoking habits and fish and vegetable consumption. The study concluded that green tea consumption is associated with a reduced risk of developing liver cancer.

Protects the Liver During Transplantation

• Several different studies have also shown that green tea may increase the chance of a successful liver transplant. In one study, two groups of mice were subjected to liver surgery; one group was given EGCG, the significant antioxidant within green tea, and the other group of mice was not. The mice fed green tea before surgery had a 100-percent survival rate, while those not fed green tea had a 65-percent survival rate. In another study, researchers rinsed a rat's fatty liver in a solution containing green tea extract before transplanting it and found that the procedure reduced the chances of transplant failure.