Catechins Are Bioavailable in Men and Women Drinking Black Tea throughout the Day Beverly A. Warden, Lametta S. Smith*, Gary R. Beecher, Douglas A. Balentine and Beverly A. Clevidence** Analytical Sciences, Incorporated, Statistics and Public Health Research, Durham, NC 27713; * Florida International University, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Miami, FL 33199; U.S. Department of Agriculture/ARS, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Food Composition Laboratory and ** Phytonutrients Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705; and Unilever Health Institute, Unilever Research, 3133 AT Vlaardingen, The Netherlands To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bwarden@asciences.com Tea consumption has been associated with reduced risk of both cancer and cardiovascular disease in population studies, but clinical data demonstrating bioavailability of the individual catechins and other polyphenolic components of tea are limited. This study assessed the apparent bioavailability of the prominent catechins from black tea in humans drinking tea throughout the day. After 5 d of consuming a low flavonoid diet, subjects drank a black tea preparation containing 15.48, 36.54, 16.74, and 31.14 mg of (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC), (-)-epicatechin (EC), (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECG), respectively, at four time points (0, 2, 4 and 6 h). Blood, urine and fecal specimens were collected over a 24- to 72-h period and catechins were quantified by HPLC with coularray detection. Plasma concentrations of EGC, EC and EGCG increased significantly relative to baseline (P < 0.05). Plasma EGC, EC and EGCG peaked after 5 h, whereas ECG peaked at 24 h. Urinary excretion of EGC and EC, which peaked at 5 h, was increased relative to baseline amounts (P < 0.05) and fecal excretion of all four catechins was increased relative to baseline (P < 0.05). Approximately 1.68% of ingested catechins were present in the plasma, urine and feces, and the apparent bioavailability of the gallated catechins was lower than the nongallated forms. Thus, catechins were bioavailable. However, unless they are rapidly metabolized or sequestered, the catechins appeared to be absorbed in amounts that were small relative to intake. Journal of Nutrition. 2001;131:1731-1737 Am Chem Society Presentation, 8/01 J Nutrition, 9/01 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.