A three-month trial of green tea extract's effect on lowering cholesterol had surprisingly successful results.  According to Dr. David Maron, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., the human study saw a 16 % reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL - this is the so-called bad cholesterol).

A 375 mg capsule containing green and black tea extracts were given to240 Chinese men and women with high cholesterol.  The tea extracts are enriched with the antioxidant theaflavin.  This study was publish in Archives of Internal Medicine.