Yellow tea and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

This tea contains polysaccharides that have caught the attention of researchers.

The large molecules, made up of multiple sugar units, are not just ordinary carbohydrates; they have remarkable prebiotic properties, meaning they can promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria.

Even better, previous research has found that it could reduce blood sugar and increase insulin resistance; in other words, treat diabetes.

This caused the authors of this new study, published in Phytomedicine, to wonder whether it could also be helpful for the treatment of NAFLD, which is caused by similar factors such as obesity and unhealthy dieting.

Specifically, they wanted to know whether it could prevent fat buildup in the liver, which is at the heart of NAFLD.

To do this, they worked with mice that had been given a diet designed to cause NAFLD. They first gave some of them yellow tea polysaccharides (YTP) so they could compare treated mice with untreated ones.

Next, they examined the mice’s bile acids, which play a major role in the digestion and absorption of fats. In addition, they transplanted gut bacteria from treated to untreated mice to see what would happen.

This is what they found once they finished their analyses.

1. YTP promotes the excretion of excess bile acids that can damage the liver when they build up there.

2. YTP helps produce healthy bile acids that don’t build up in the liver. These acids are essential for breaking down fat that could otherwise accumulate in the liver.

3. Through increasing and decreasing certain types of proteins, YTP helped to cycle bile acids between the liver and the intestines so that they wouldn’t build up in the liver.

4. YTP reduces gut bacteria that produce bile salt hydrolase, an enzyme that can negatively affect the breakdown of bile acids.

5. Simultaneously, YTP increases the number of bacteria involved in the breakdown of taurine, a process that is beneficial for liver health.

As such, the study proves that YTP protects the liver from excessive bile acid and fat storage, precisely what is needed to combat NAFLD.

Luckily, yellow tea is widely available in grocery and health stores and online. Make sure the packaging specifies that it comes from the Camellia sinensis plant. In this study, the scientists used a plant exceptionally high in polysaccharides called Camellia sinensis var. assamica.

But yellow tea alone is not enough to completely reverse NAFLD. For that, you need to make a few more simple lifestyle choices, as explained here…