High tea could lower “bad” cholesterol

Dear Reader, Yes, I’m a total green tea groupie. (You read yesterday’s Reality Health Check, right? Honestly, what’s not to love?) But here's the thing: That tea in your mug doesn't have to be green to make you healthier. Because black tea is no slouch, either. A team of Chinese researchers recently reviewed data from 10 different randomized clinical trials, featuring more than 400 subjects. And they found that black tea consumption was linked to significant drops in "bad" LDL cholesterol. (A nearly 5 mg/dL decline, on average.) The scientists think that black tea has a few ways of achieving this. Its active components, called catechins, block dietary cholesterol absorption for starters. But they also lower the rate at which your body generates cholesterol. Of course, this isn't the first time researchers have put black tea to the test. In fact, you might also remember a similar study I shared with you a couple of years ago. Those results showed that countries that drink a lot of black tea also happen to have 25 percent lower diabetes rates. Now... if only we could convince all those new statin candidates to invest in a good tea kettle instead.