ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular diseases, together with cancers, are the main killing diseases of humans in the world. Of the cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis is one of the most prevalent. Atherosclerosis is primarily caused by hypercholesterolemia in which excess cholesterol accumulates in the blood vessels and oxidation of low-density cholesterol (LDL) leads to foci of endothelial abnormalities associated with the process of atherosclerosis (Weisburger, 1994). It deteriorates further with the oxidation of lipids in the blood. Therefore, in order to maintain the cardiovascular system in good condition, it is very important to prevent not only an excessive increase of cholesterols in the blood, but also the oxidation of lipids in the blood. Hypertension is another major factor that can affect the health of the cardiovascular system. In this article, the antioxidative, hypolipidemic, hypotensive and the obesitydepressing activity of tea will be discussed.
