Green Tea, Coffee, and Diabetes
Authors: Tsung O. Cheng
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2006)

Letters17 October 2006Green Tea, Coffee, and DiabetesTsung O. Cheng, MDTsung O. Cheng, MDFrom George Washington University, Washington, DC.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-145-8-200610170-00016 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR: Iso and colleagues (1) reported an inverse relation between consumption of green tea (not black tea) and risk for diabetes, attributing it to caffeine. However, the importance of other constituents in the green tea should not be underestimated (2).For ages, plants containing flavonoids have been used to treat diabetes in Indian medicine (3). The green tea flavonoid has been shown to have insulin-like activity (3) as well as insulin-enhancing activity (4). However, epigallocatechin gallate, which is the principal catechin in green tea, differs from insulin because it affects several insulin-activated kinases with slower kinetics (3). Furthermore, ...References1. Iso H, Date C, Wakai K, Fukui M, Tamakoshi A. The relationship between green tea and total caffeine intake and risk for self-reported type 2 diabetes among Japanese adults. Ann Intern Med. 2006;144:554-62. [PMID: 16618952] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Cheng TO. All teas are not created equal: the Chinese green tea and cardiovascular health. Int J Cardiol. 2006;108:301-8. [PMID: 15978686] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Waltner-Law ME, Wang XL, Law BK, Hall RK, Nawano M, Granner DK. Epigallocatechin gallate, a constituent of green tea, represses hepatic glucose production. J Biol Chem. 2002;277:34933-40. [PMID: 12118006] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Anderson RA, Polansky MM. Tea enhances insulin activity. J Agric Food Chem. 2002;50:7182-6. [PMID: 12428980] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Tsuneki H, Ishizuka M, Terasawa M, Wu JB, Sasaoka T, Kimura I. Effect of green tea on blood glucose levels and serum proteomic patterns in diabetic (db/db) mice and on glucose metabolism in healthy humans. BMC Pharmacol. 2004;4:18. [PMID: 15331020] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Wu LY, Juan CC, Ho LT, Hsu YP, Hwang LS. Effect of green tea supplementation on insulin sensitivity in Sprague-Dawley rats. J Agric Food Chem. 2004;52:643-8. [PMID: 14759162] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Wu LY, Juan CC, Hwang LS, Hsu YP, Ho PH, Ho LT. Green tea supplementation ameliorates insulin resistance and increases glucose transporter IV content in a fructose-fed rat model. Eur J Nutr. 2004;43:116-24. [PMID: 15083319] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. Shimada K, Kawarabayashi T, Tanaka A, Fukuda D, Nakamura Y, Yoshiyama M, et al. Oolong tea increases plasma adiponectin levels and low-density lipoprotein particle size in patients with coronary artery disease. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2004;65:227-34. [PMID: 15331202] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Hosoda K, Wang MF, Liao ML, Chuang CK, Iha M, Clevidence B, et al. Antihyperglycemic effect of oolong tea in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2003;26:1714-8. [PMID: 12766099] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. Campbell AP. Time for tea? Diabetes Self Manag. 2004;21:8-10, 12. [PMID: 15199871] MedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From George Washington University, Washington, DC.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoThe Relationship between Green Tea and Total Caffeine Intake and Risk for Self-Reported Type 2 Diabetes among Japanese Adults Hiroyasu Iso , Chigusa Date , Kenji Wakai , Mitsuru Fukui , Akiko Tamakoshi , and Green Tea, Coffee, and Diabetes Luca Mascitelli and Francesca Pezzetta Green Tea, Coffee, and Diabetes Rob M. van Dam Green Tea, Coffee, and Diabetes Hiroyasu Iso Correction: Patients' Global Ratings of Their Health Care Are Not Associated with the Technical Quality of Their CareGreen Tea, Coffee, and Diabetes Ruoling Chen Metrics Cited ByGreen tea catechins ameliorate adipose insulin resistance by improving oxidative stress 17 October 2006Volume 145, Issue 8Page: 633-634KeywordsHypoglycemicsInsulinInsulin resistanceMilkRat modelsRisk managementSerum proteinsTeaType 2 diabetes ePublished: 17 October 2006 Issue Published: 17 October 2006 CopyrightCopyright © 2006 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...