Green tea and testosterone

[UberShaman]

Ive recently read some article about how green tea lowers serum testosterone levels, Has anybody else read about this? Im going to try and find the studies backing this up, so if anyone else has any info please post it and ill report back when i find some valid info, thanks

[UberShaman]

Looks like its true :(
Modulation of endocrine systems and food intake by green tea
epigallocatechin gallate.

Kao YH, Hiipakka RA, Liao S.

Ben May Institute for Cancer Research, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Tang Center for Herbal Medicine Research, University of Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.

Green tea polyphenols, especially the catechin, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), have been proposed as a cancer chemopreventative based on a variety of laboratory studies. For clear assessment of the possible physiological
effects of green tea consumption, we injected pure green tea catechins ip into rats and studied their acute effects on endocrine systems. We found that EGCG, but not related catechins, significantly reduced food intake; body weight; blood levels of testosterone, estradiol, leptin, insulin,
insulin-like growth factor I, LH, glucose, cholesterol, and triglyceride; as well as growth of the prostate, uterus, and ovary. Similar effects were observed in lean and obese male Zucker rats, suggesting that the effect of EGCG was independent of an intact leptin receptor. EGCG may interact
specifically with a component of a leptin-independent appetite control pathway. Endocrine changes induced by parenteral administration of EGCG may relate to the observed growth inhibition and regression of human prostate
and breast tumors in athymic mice treated with EGCG as well as play a role in the mechanism by which EGCG inhibits cancer initiation and promotion in various animal models of cancer.

[dunbarj01]

Does this mean I'll stop going bald if I drink more green tea??? :D

[dunbarj01]

P.S. Thanks for the info.

[Fish of Fury]

funny you should mention that Vlad...

EGCG has been suggested as a possible male pattern baldness "cure" due to it's effects on testosterone metabolism.

a few points to keep in mind.
isolated injected compounds have a very different effect on people than ingested food/herbs etc.
ie. you wont get the same effect (good or bad) drinking a cup of tea that you'd get injecting XXXmg EGCG

chemical complexity of plants is also relevant.ie. if there's several hundred different compounds in a herb, it's effect may be totally different (even opposite) to ONE of those compounds given alone.
a good example of this is meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). this herb contains salycilates, similar to aspirin.because of this some pharmacists have ASSUMED the herb may cause intestinal ulceration the same way aspirin does.
However, this doesn't happen in clinical use of the herb, and in fact it's actually used to treat ulcers (amongst other things)

so the theoretical effects of high dose EGCG may be totally different to what happens when you drink a cup of tea

__________________________________________________ _________________________ "I'm just trying to lull you into a genuine sense of security!"

[UberShaman]

In vitro studies are usually at least somewhat different, thats also the only study Ive seen coming to that conclusion so who knows? Ill keep looking for more data.