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news.Plandaí Biotechnology in a new study demonstrated improved function in the area of the pancreas responsible for insulin production in laboratory mice treated with chemicals found in green tea gallate extract.
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Plandaí chief executive officer Roger Duffield said the anecdotal benefits of green tea have been known for centuries, with herbalists using it to benefit cardiovascular health and help treat certain cancers among a long list of other perceived benefits.
"Plandaí’s proprietary process for producing green tea gallate catechin extract in a manner that is more cost effective and with improved bioavailability sets us in the forefront of this rapidly expanding market," Duffield said.
The study, published in Nutrition & Metabolism, reported the results of diabetes susceptible mice that had received a clinical dose of EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), one of the four primary catechins found in fresh tea leaves.
The EGCG supplementation appeared to protect the islets of Langerhans in treated mice from the changes associated with onset diabetes, and to have increased the number and size of the islets.
Dietary supplementation of purified ECGC could be a way to confer beta cell protection and encouraged randomized, placebo-controlled trials, according to the study.