Lin, C.-C.; Hsieh, C.-Y.; Chen, L.-F.; Chen, Y.-C.; Ho, T.-H.; Chang, S.-C.; Chang, J.-F. Versatile Effects of GABA Oolong Tea on Improvements in Diastolic Blood Pressure, Alpha Brain Waves, and Quality of Life. Foods2023, 12, 4101.
Lin, C.-C.; Hsieh, C.-Y.; Chen, L.-F.; Chen, Y.-C.; Ho, T.-H.; Chang, S.-C.; Chang, J.-F. Versatile Effects of GABA Oolong Tea on Improvements in Diastolic Blood Pressure, Alpha Brain Waves, and Quality of Life. Foods 2023, 12, 4101.
Lin, C.-C.; Hsieh, C.-Y.; Chen, L.-F.; Chen, Y.-C.; Ho, T.-H.; Chang, S.-C.; Chang, J.-F. Versatile Effects of GABA Oolong Tea on Improvements in Diastolic Blood Pressure, Alpha Brain Waves, and Quality of Life. Foods2023, 12, 4101.
Lin, C.-C.; Hsieh, C.-Y.; Chen, L.-F.; Chen, Y.-C.; Ho, T.-H.; Chang, S.-C.; Chang, J.-F. Versatile Effects of GABA Oolong Tea on Improvements in Diastolic Blood Pressure, Alpha Brain Waves, and Quality of Life. Foods 2023, 12, 4101.
Abstract
Emerging evidence demonstrated that using a new manufacturing technology to produce γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-fortified oolong (GO) tea could relieve human stress and exert versatile physiological benefits. The purpose of this human research aims to investigate therapeutic effects of daily GO tea consumption on the improvement of blood pressure, relaxation-related brain waves and quality of life (QOL) during a period of 28 consecutive days. Total polyphenols, major catechins and free amino acids were analyzed via HPLC assay. Changes of heart rate, blood pressure, α-brain wave (index of relaxation) and eight-item QOL score were investigated on day 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28, respectively. The chemical analysis results showed that GO tea contained the most abundant amino acids and GABA, contributing to the relaxation activity. Among all study participants, daily drinking GO tea could reduce systolic blood pressure on day 21 and diastolic blood pressure on day 28 (p < 0.05, respectively). For participants with pre-hypertension, GO tea could effectively reduce heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure on day 28 (p < 0.05). At the end of the study, incremental changes in alpha-brain wave and QOL scores were also demonstrated (p < 0.05, respectively). This study recommended that GO tea might potentially serve as a natural source of alternative therapy to benefit blood pressure, stress-relief and QOL.
Keywords
γ-aminobutyric acid; oolong tea; blood pressure; brainwave; quality of life
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Food Science and Technology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.