The easiest step you’ll ever take to benefit your health
By Glenn S. Rothfeld, M.D.
I got my wife a book for her birthday entitled, “The Tea Lady of Hummingbird Lane.” She was reading it on our vacation, which we spent at our friend’s house.
The book describes in detail the history, preparation, and many positive effects of the tea called Pu’er.
This special Chinese tea is neither green nor black tea—although it comes from the same plant, Camelia sinensis, that all other non-herbal teas come from.
Well, my friend overheard us and brought out a “tea cake” that she had purchased from a French tea merchant in Paris.
It was a cake of Pu’er tea, beautifully packaged, and containing this special tea which is usually sold in pressed cake or cube form.
Needless to say, we spent the rest of the afternoon sipping Pu’er prepared in the various ways that we read about…
While I went online and plunged into the medicinal properties of this remarkable beverage.
I’ll share with you what I learned today—and you’ll see why adding a cup of Pu’er to your day might just be the EASIEST step you’ve ever taken to improve your health!
In a cup of Pu’er tea…
Part of the mystique of Pu’er tea is the way in which it’s regulated so that the quality is reproducible…
First, in order to be called Pu’er, the tea must be aged and come from Yunnan province.
This area, along Lancang river, is known for its soft silvery leaves on plants and trees that are as much as 1,000 years old.
The leaves are then dried in a process called withering, which softens them and begins the process of fermentation.
Pu’er tea leaves are then “fixed” so that fermentation is stopped, then run through rollers so the leaves are gently broken down to release more flavor.
But this next step is what distinguishes Pu’er from other tea…
The leaves are sun-dried (as opposed to drying by heat cooking and/or hot air).
From the above core methods, we end up with two varieties of Pu’er called “black” and “green.” Black Pu’er is “cooked” first by moistening and placing in a warm place. This results in its dark color and rich taste.
Both black and green Pu’er are then pressed into cakes or whatever shape is desired.
I’ve described this process to emphasize the specialized nature of Pu’er…
Because along with its special appearance and taste, Pu’er also has special health benefits—even among the many teas (black, green, oolong etc.) that we know to have healing properties.
The health benefits of Pu’er
Pu’er tea (which is abbreviated PET) has been well-studied, including for its effects on:
- Weight loss
- The reduction of blood lipids including cholesterol
- Lowering blood sugar
- Cancer prevention
- The enhancement of strength and elasticity of skin and connective tissue
- Its ability to act as an antibiotic
It’s even been purported to have antiaging properties beyond those claimed by green and black tea, due to its being a potent antioxidant!
Let’s take a look at some of the most noteworthy studies done to prove these benefits…
Cholesterol and weight loss:
The lipid-lowering ability of PET has been shown as early as 1986 in rat studies. More recently in 1997, an eight-week rat study showed that PET lowered total cholesterol and raised HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol) by a highly significant amount (p<0.05).
This was repeated in hamster studies in 2003, with both cholesterol and triglycerides being significantly reduced in the PET-treated group.
In 2005, another group using a 40 percent water extract of PET for 30 weeks was able to show “a profound hyperlipidemic effect to increase the level of HDL-C and decrease the level of LDL-C (the “bad” cholesterol)”; in addition, fatty deposits in the liver—which are common in hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia—were significantly reduced.
Another rat study, this one in 2009, again demonstrated the triglyceride and cholesterol lowering properties of PET (both green and black versions) to a significant level of p<0.05.
This study was repeated in 2009 by another group, with the same results.
In addition, using a human cell strain of hepatoma (liver tumors), the triglycerides were again lowered with PET.
In 2010, a compound was isolated from PET called theabrownin. This compound was thought to be responsible for the lowering of triglycerides, cholesterol and LDL-D in rats put on a high-fat diet.
Subsequent studies showed that, in addition to lowering lipids, there was increased production of enzymes called lipases in the liver and bloodstream…
The end result was a lowering of “visceral fat”—the DANGEROUS layer of fat wrapped around the vital organs as a result of hyperlipidemia.
The weight management properties of this remarkable beverage were demonstrated back in 2011 in a 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 36 overweight and obese adults.
Participants were given 333 mg of PET extract with each meal daily.
The result?
Body weight and body mass index (BMI) were significantly reduced.
Furthermore, sequential CT scans of the abdomen showed a reduction in visceral fat (p<0.05).
Subsequent animal studies showed the same conclusion…
In 2012, a component of PET called gallic acid (GA) was shown to independently lower triglycerides and prevent weight gain in mice who were being fed a weight gain-type diet.
Another study used a high-fructose diet on rats given PET leaves to eat; here, the results showed a marked reduction in triglycerides, cholesterol and insulin levels, as well as a direct suppression of fatty acid synthase (the enzymes that make fatty acids from sugar in the bloodstream).
Now, the mechanisms by which PET lowers lipids, blood sugar and excess weight are not entirely clear, but several possibilities are being explored currently…
One involves the type of flavonoid called catechin, which is abundant in PET and other teas.
One particular catechin (known as epigallocatechin 3-gallate, or EGCG) has been shown to reduce liver cholesterol and to increase to breakdown of cholesterol to bile acids, which are then excreted in the stool.
EGCG also slows down the absorption of triglyceride precursors.
Finally, the aged and fermented PET has particularly high amounts of so-called “natural statins”; these HMG-CoA Reductase inhibitors slow down the production of cholesterol in the liver.
PET also has POTENT antioxidant effects according to some animal studies…
Specifically, the activities of the powerful antioxidant enzymes Superoxide Dysmutase (SOD) and Glutathione Peroxide (GSH-Px) are greatly enhanced, while the level of malondialdehyde (a sign of lipid peroxidation, or oxidative damage to the lipid membranes of cells) is reduced.
Other such studies demonstrate the varied effects of PET on slowing down—and actually REVERSING—atherosclerosis...
In one 2018 mouse study, PET “markedly reduced early fatty streak formation and the advanced fibrofatty plaque sizes.” Inflammatory macrophages (evidence of atherosclerosis damage in the fatty plaques) decreased, and inflammatory cytokine activity was “significantly” reduced.
This mechanism is thought to be a lowering in “NF kappaB” activity—a protein (with the impossibly long name of Nuclear Factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B Cells, thus abbreviated NF-kB) which exists in all animal cells.
It is one of the MAJOR controllers of our response to any sort of stress, so it’s no wonder that controlling NF-kB is critical in the ability to modify inflammation, and is thought to play a role in the body’s ability to combat:
- Infection
- Cancer
- Auto-immunity
- And even memory and cognitive function.
If PET can play a role in turning down the activity of NF-kB, it promises to have profound effects on this wide array of illnesses, and can even be called an Anti-Aging Elixir!! Which brings us to the effects of Pu’er Tea on cancer cells…
Cancer:
Remembering that PET has particularly high concentrations of a type of polyphenols called theabrownins, it appears that the theabrownins are particularly responsible for the anti-cancer effects of PET…
Several studies using a theabrownin-enhanced version of PET suppressed the activity of cancer cells in the laboratory, even as compared to regular green tea.
And the polyphenols in green tea that are thought to be anti-cancerous, called EGCG (see above), were not as active in PET as the theabrownins in combatting cancer.
In one 2013 study the authors concluded, “These results collectively indicated that fermented and unfermented Pu-erh teas possess stronger anticancer and antiangiogenesis effects than green tea.”
Interestingly, the authors also found that the more fermented the Pu’er, the greater the anticancer effect.
PET has also been shown in animal studies to suppress lung cancer growth (non-small cell lung cancer), as well as oral cancers including the tongue and mucous membranes of the mouth.
Other studies have demonstrated an effect of PET (or its constituent theabrownins) on breast, bone and gastric cancers, among others.
Skin health:
Finally, on a less life-threatening note, PET has been thought to have skin antiaging and detoxifying properties.
A 2016 study looked at the effects of PET on elastin, the main protein in skin whose damage results in the aging of the skin.
The PET had a strong protective effect on the elastin, suggesting that it can have the same aforementioned antiaging effect on skin and connective tissue!
What’s not to love? GR
