| Disease | THIRTY-ONE MEN (47 (SD14) YEARS) AND THIRTY-FOUR WOMEN (35 (SD13) YEARS) TOOK PART IN A 4-WEEK RANDOMIZED CROSS-OVER TRIAL TO COMPARE THE EFFECT OF SIX MUGS OF BLACK TEA DIALY 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 INVERVENTION PERIOD COMAPRED WITH PLACEBO. COMPARED WITH PLACEBO, STOOL SONSISTENCY 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. |