Green tea consumption has increased more than twentyfold since 1997, and now there’s yet another reason to drink up. Tests on mice suggest that the polyphenols in green tea can protect against certain kinds of liver disease and damage. Researchers at the University of Hong Kong recently found that mice treated with the liver-damaging chemical carbon tetrachloride had significantly fewer liver-function problems if they were also given green tea extract containing polyphenols (Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004, vol. 80, no. 3). This is great news for anyone concerned about liver health, especially the 170 million people worldwide who suffer from hepatitis C, a third of whom will develop liver disease as a result.
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