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Green tea may influence bone growth

Updated: 2009-09-17 22:14:28 CST Category: General Health

by Brendan Missett

Tea drinkers may need to take caution according to a new U.S. study which concludes that green tea may weaken bones.

The recent study found mice that were given a diet which included green tea extract weighed less than a control group of mice that did not have the extract added to their food, Health Day News reports. Researchers say the weight difference was more pronounced among obese mice.

After monitoring the mice for six weeks, the scientists measured the animals' bone size, mineral content and architecture. They concluded that consumption of green tea extract reduced the length, volume, mineral content and cortical thickness of the femur in mice. A similar study which will be published in the October issue of the Journal of Nutrition, found that green tea extract had the same effect on the mice's lumbar vertebrae.

The researchers from Oregon State University and the University of Connecticut stated they were unable to determine if similar effects occur in humans.

Conversely, simultaneous research at the University of Hong Kong revealed that when human bone-forming cells are exposed to some green tea ingredients, bone growth was stimulated by almost 80 percent.

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