On 4 October 2008, the central research institute of Ito En Ltd. announced that it could confirm the reductive effects of its gallate-type catechin-containing beverage on abdominal intestine surface fat. The announcement was made at Japan Digestive Disease Week 2008 (JDDW2008) at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Tokyo.
The results had come from experiments done on 73 overweight men and women with high cholesterol who drank the gallate-type catechin-containing beverage twice daily with their meals over a 12-week period. During this period, the subjects’ had body weight measurements, blood tests and medical interviews by doctors every 4 weeks, plus their abdominal intestine surface fat measured by CT scan after 8 and 12 weeks. The results showed that for 66 of the 73 subjects (excluding 7 women under the age of 40), drinking the gallate-type catechin-containing beverage had caused a reduction in abdominal intestine surface fat compared to the fat levels before the experiment. In addition, the previously observed serum cholesterol reduction effect could once again be confirmed. Due to the abdominal intestine fat reduction results, the company expects that the beverage will hold preventive effects for metabolic syndrome