ABSTRACT
Green tea catechins are well known to be one of polyphenols, and its regular ingestion induces body fat reduction in obese individuals. Cocoa polyphenols of high-cocoa chocolate can also improve arterial stiffness. However, it is unclear whether green tea catechins improve body fat and arterial stiffness even in healthy young adults. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effects of regular green tea intake on body fat and arterial stiffness in young adults. This randomized, controlled, parallel-group intervention study included 53 Japanese college students (mean age, 21.1 ± 0.1; men, n = 40; women, n = 13). They were randomly divided into three groups: control group (n = 14), intervention I group (n = 19), and intervention II group (n = 20). The participants ingested 500 ml/day of commercially available natural water (0 mg of catechin/day) or green tea (intervention I group, 200 mg of catechin/day; intervention II group, 400 mg of catechin/day) for 4 weeks. After 4 weeks of intervention period, no significant changes in body weight, body mass index, pulse wave velocity, and cardio-ankle vascular index were observed in all groups. However, body fat and carbon dioxide output significantly reduced only in the intervention II group. With the level of catechin concentrations increasing, significant decreasing trends were found in body fat changes and respiratory exchange ratio changes. Therefore, these findings suggest that four weeks of regular green tea intake would reduce body fat, but not arterial stiffness, in young adults.
ABSTRACT
<p>The present study aimed to examine the effects of community-based intervention on cognitive function and hand finger dexterity in older adults at different levels of time to go out. Forty men and women (age, 73 ± 1 years) participated in supervised group activity and seated exercise for 60 min per session, once each week during an 8-week intervention. The participants wore an activity monitor for 1 week to determine baseline values and for the 8 weeks of intervention. Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and pegboard test, which is related to cognitive function, were assessed before and after the intervention. Based on the total time to go out at baseline, the participants were assigned to Control group (> 60 min/day, n = 18) or Short group (≦ 60 min /day, n = 22), and then analyzed. After the 8 weeks of intervention, the Control and Short groups improved physical fitness parameters such as handgrip strength. Although MMSE in the both groups did not reach statistically significant level, these values tended to increase slightly from the baseline. Interestingly, two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated significant interaction of pegboard test, and the score significantly increased only in the Short group. Total physical activity and moderate-vigorous physical activity in the both groups did not change significantly between the baseline and intervention periods. Therefore, these results suggest that the trainability of pegboard test, which is an index of hand finger dexterity and is related to cognitive function, would differ depending on the time to go out at baseline in older adults.</p>