Tuocha tea, as a fermented tea with a long history, was revered by Tibetans as early as 1,400 years ago. Ancient wisdom tells us: "The food of fishy meat, not tea, highland barley is hot, not tea." In Tibet, due to the limitations of natural conditions, Tibetans all year round to beef and mutton and other high-protein meat and dairy products as the staple food, lack of fresh vegetables and fruits intake. Therefore, Tuocha tea from Yunnan became an indispensable element in their diet.
With the change of times, the diet structure of modern people has undergone great changes. Excessive intake of sugar and oil, coupled with lack of exercise and bad lifestyle habits, lead to increasingly serious health problems such as hyperlipidemia. Although high blood lipids can be regulated with medication, long-term use of drugs can be taxing on the body, such as liver damage.
Effect of Tuocha tea on lowering blood lipids
In 1978, Emile Carroubi, a professor at the Saint Antoine Department of Medicine in Paris, proved through clinical trials that Tuocha tea can effectively reduce lipid compounds and cholesterol in the human body, and long-term drinking without side effects. Professor Benard Jacotot of the Henri Lundo Hospital in Paris studied 20 patients with high blood lipids and found that after drinking three bowls of tea a day, the blood fat levels of the patients dropped by 22 percent within a month. In addition, the study of the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University also showed that the effect of Tuocha tea in lowering serum cholesterol is comparable to that of traditional drugs.
In 2003, a study by Beijing Likang Green Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Institute found that the Tuocha tea contained statins, of which the content of lovastatin was 61.8mg/kg, and increased with the aging time of the Tuocha tea. These substances can competitively inhibit cholesterol biosynthesis, regulate low-density lipoprotein (LDL) activity, and promote the decrease of LDL-C levels in plasma. It is one of the most effective lipid-lowering drugs available to prevent stroke and treat osteoporosis.
Other studies have shown that Tuocha tea has a significant effect on cholesterol levels in blood lipids. The results of two critical studies show that Tuo tea is as effective as mainstream cholesterol drugs in reducing cholesterol levels. A study of 20 patients with high cholesterol by Professor Bernard Jacotot of the Henri-Mondor Hospital in Creteil, France, showed that after 20 days of Tuocha tea treatment, patients' cholesterol levels were reduced by 22%. Another study from Kunming Medical College directly compared the effects of Tuocha tea with modern drugs, showing that cholesterol levels were significantly reduced in both groups, and the effect in the Tuocha tea group was similar to that in the drug group.
Bioactive components of Tuocha tea
The effect of bioactive compounds in Tuocha tea on lipid levels is mainly reflected in its ability to lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and raise high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Studies have shown that the lipid lowering effect of Tuocha tea is better than that of green tea, oolong tea and black tea. The details include:
(1) Flavonoids: the main types of compounds in Tuocha tea, especially flavanols and their glycosides, can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases, especially hyperlipidemia.
(2) Theabrownin: polyphenol compounds in the Tuocha tea, has a certain lipid-lowering effect, can help improve blood lipid levels.
(3) Other compounds: such as gallic acid, tea polysaccharides, theaflavins and lovastatin, which are also found in Tuocha tea, may impact lipid levels.