THE HEALTH | MAY-JUNE , 2022

SEPSIS ALERT

BY ASSOC PROF DR TAN TOH LEONG

AND DR KHAIZURIN TAJUL ARIFIN

Tea contains beneficial groups of chemicals , such as flavonoids and polyphenols . Due to these chemicals , consuming tea can either maintain or improve your health . Currently , teadrinking is beyond cultural practice . It has become a staple in many households and a popular beverage .

The original ‘ tea ’ comes from the leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis . However , the preparation of tea has evolved from steeping leaves from C . sinensis in hot or even cold water , to using other parts of other plants ( flowers like rose , jasmin , peach , butterfly pea ; roots like burdock , liquorice , ginseng etc .), and fermenting the tea

( Kombucha ).

Steeping the plant parts in water releases these beneficial chemicals . Worry not . Polyphenols and flavonoids can be found in almost all parts of plants .

Our body has its mechanism to maintain health . The inflammation process is the first line of defence the body undergoes to protect it .

Oxidative stress

Inflammation refers to your body ’ s process of fighting against things that harm it , like infections , injuries , and toxins , to heal itself . The inflammation process is paired with another condition called oxidative stress .

Oxidative stress is a phenomenon caused by the disability of detoxifying oxidants in the body . Many studies showed that inflammation induces oxidative stress , or the other way around .

Prolonged or chronic inflammation and oxidative stress can lead to diseases ( such as cancer , Alzheimer ’ s , arthritis etc ) and sepsis ( the body ’ s extreme response to an infection ). These conditions will affect the quality-of-life health-wise , financially , physically , mentally , and emotionally . Consuming teas has been said to prevent or improve these debilitating conditions . Luckily , numerous research studies have shown that teas exert anti-inflammatory effects in animals . Based on these studies , a human can also reap the advantages of consuming tea to benefit our health .

In research , Kombucha tea reduced some inflammatory biomarkers , leading to an improved body temperature of mice with sepsis , and improved survival rate . Additionally , the tea supplementation altered the microorganism diversity in the gut and promoted the growth of a type of bacteria that exerts anti-inflammatory effects .

Encouraging research results

In another research using sepsis mice , Yunnan black tea flavonoids increased the survival rate of the mice , and alleviated the higher thinking ( cognitive ) dysfunction that they endured .

Another research used mice with the aged liver . These mice were given green tea polyphenols . In these mice , the green tea polyphenols effectively improved the liver condition by reducing the swelling associated with ageing , increasing total antioxidant and antioxidant enzyme levels , and reducing oxidative stress .

In one research , the researchers used mice with liver injury . The mice were given green tea , yellow tea , oolong tea , white tea , black tea , and dark tea . All six kinds of tea restored the size of the enlarged liver and lessened the level of injury .

Furthermore , the highlyfermented dark tea significantly reduced inflammation , whereas the unfermented green tea inhibited oxidative stress .

In another research , some mice were induced with inflammation . This time they used an extract from the flower buds of Cleistocalyx operculatus ( an important ingredient in herbal tea ). The extract reduced inflammation in the mice , and reduced damage of the lung and liver tissues that normally come with inflammation .

These are only some examples of thousands of research done to investigate tea ’ s health benefits from different parts of plants . The results suggest that tea can be beneficial for us too in reducing inflammation and oxidative stress , hoping to reduce the probability of acquiring diseases and other effects of chronic inflammation . So , let us drink up ! — The Health

Assoc Prof Dr Tan Toh Leong is Senior Lecturer and Emergency Medical Consultant , UKM Medical Center , Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia ( UKM ) and President & Founder of Malaysian Sepsis Alliance ( MSA ) while Dr Khaizurin Tajul Arifin is with the Department of Biochemistry , Faculty of Medicine , UKM and on the committee of MSA .