| Disease | THIRTY-ONE MEN (47 (SD14) YEARS) AND THIRTY-FOUR WOMEN (35 (SD13) YEARS) TOOK PART IN A 4-WEEK RANDOMIZED CROSS-OVER TRAIL TO COMPARE THE EFFECT OF SIX MUGS OF BLACK TEA DAILY V.PLACEBO (WATER, CAFFEINE, MILK AND SUGAR) ON BLOOD LIPIDS, BOWEL
HABIT AND BLOOD PRESSURE, MEASURED DURING A RUN-IN PERIOD AND AT THE END WEEKS 2,3 AND 4 OF THE TEST PERIODS. COMPLIANCE WAS ESTABLISHED BY ADDING A KNOWN AMOUNT OF P-AMINOBENZOIC ACID (PABA) TO SELECTED TEA BAGS, AND THEN MEASURING IT
EXCRETION IN URINE. MEAN SERUM CHOLESTEROL VALUES DURING RUN-IN, PLACEBO AND ON TEA DRINKING WERE 5-67 (SD 1.05), 5-76 (SD 1.11) AND 5.69 (SD 1.09) MMOL/L (P=0.16). THERE WERE ALSO NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN DIET, LDL-CHOLESTEROL, HDL-CHOLESTEROL
TRIACYLGLYCEROLS, AND BLOOD PRESSURE IN THE TEA INTERVENTION PERIOD COMPARED WITH PLACEBO. COMPARED WITH PLACEBO, STOOL CONSISTENCY WAS SOFTENED WITH TEA (P=0.04), AND NO OTHER DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND IN BOWEL HABIT. RESULTS WERE UNCHANGED
WHEN FIFTEEN 'NON-COMPLIERS' WHOSE PABA EXCRETION INDICATED THAT FEWER THAN SIX TEA BAGS HAD BEEN USED, WERE EXCLUDED FROM THE ANALYSIS, AND WHEN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RUN-IN AND TEA PERIODS WERE CONSIDERED SEPARATELY FOR THOSE WHO WERE GIVEN
TEA FIRST OR SECOND. |