Green tea may aid bone health

HONG KONG, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Hong Kong researchers suggest green tea contains chemicals that slow bone breakdown.

Ping Chung Leung of Institute of Chinese Medicine at the

Chinese University of Hong Kong and colleagues exposed a group of cultured bone-forming cells -- osteoblasts -- to three major green tea components -- epigallocatechin, gallocatechin and gallocatechin gallate -- for several days.

The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found one of the three compounds they tested, epigallocatechin, also boosted the activity of a key enzyme that promotes bone growth by up to 79 percent.

The study also found high concentrations of epigallocatechin blocked the activity of a type of cell known as an osteoclast that breaks down or weakens bones. The researchers also said they could not find epigallocatechin causing any toxic effects to the bone cells.