New Perspectives on Sleep Regulation by Tea: Harmonizing Pathological Sleep and Energy Balance under Stress

Sleep, a conservative evolutionary behavior of organisms to adapt to changes in the external environment, is divided into natural sleep, in a healthy state, and sickness sleep, which occurs in stressful environments or during illness. Sickness sleep plays an important role in maintaining energy homeostasis under an injury and promoting physical recovery. Tea, a popular phytochemical-rich beverage, has multiple health benefits, including lowering stress and regulating energy metabolism and natural sleep. However, the role of tea in regulating sickness sleep has received little attention. The mechanism underlying tea regulation of sickness sleep and its association with the maintenance of energy homeostasis in injured organisms remains to be elucidated. This review examines the current research on the effect of tea on sleep regulation, focusing on the function of tea in modulating energy homeostasis through sickness sleep, energy metabolism, and damage repair in model organisms. The potential mechanisms underlying tea in regulating sickness sleep are further suggested. Based on the biohomology of sleep regulation, this review provides novel insights into the role of tea in sleep regulation and a new perspective on the potential role of tea in restoring homeostasis from diseases.

The effect of oolong tea as an adjunct to nonsurgical management of chronic periodontitis: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Introduction: Oolong tea, a functional food, has numerous therapeutic benefits owing to the presence of bioactive polyphenols, theasinensins (TS) and catechins. The present study aimed to evaluate the influence of systemic administration of oolong tea as an adjunct to nonsurgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) in the management of chronic periodontitis (CP).Methods: A total of 60 subjects with mild to moderate CP were randomly divided into two groups of tests (n = 30) and the controls (n = 30). They underwent NSPT with adjunctive oolong tea supplementation in the test group only. At baseline, 1, and 3 months, their gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment loss (CAL), percentage of sites with bleeding on probing (BOP), and lobene stain index (LSI) were recorded. Furthermore, the levels of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), total antioxidants (TAO), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were also estimated in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF), saliva and serum. Additionally, colony-forming units (CFUs) of selective supra and subgingival plaque bacteria were estimated in the plaque samples.Results: In both groups, at 1 month, the GI, PI, BOP, GPx, and TAO levels were improved with a reduction in the levels of MDA and CFU’s and no staining of teeth (P < 0.05). The results were maintained in the test group at 3-month recall visit.Conclusion: Adjunctive administration of oolong tea with NSPT reduced the local and systemic oxidative burden and rapidly resolved the inflammation in CP. This would be specifically beneficial in CP subjects with systemic conditions.

Multi-Sip Time⁻Intensity Evaluation of Retronasal Aroma after Swallowing Oolong Tea Beverage

In most cases, a meal cannot be finished with a single bite and sip. During eating and drinking, consumers receive dynamic food perceptions from sensory attributes in foods. Thus, we performed multi-sip time–intensity (TI) evaluation of sensory attribute. In each of ten trials, the participant evaluated continuously the intensity of retronasal aroma for 60 s after swallowing oolong tea. We compared the TI parameters (I_max: maximum intensity, T_max: time point at which intensity reached the maximum value, AUC: area under the TI curve, D_plateau: duration between the first and last time points with values exceeding 90% of the maximum intensity, R_inc: rate of intensity increase between the first time points with values exceeding 5% and 90% of the maximum intensity, and R_dec: rate of intensity decrease between the last time points with values exceeding 5% and 90% of the maximum intensity) and TI curves among the ten trials, and approximated each TI curve with an exponential model. Some TI parameters (I_max, T_max, AUC, and R_inc) differed significantly between the first and subsequent trials. The TI curve was significantly lower in the first trial than in the subsequent trials, and TI curve during the time from starting the evaluation to reaching maximum intensity was significantly lower in the second trial than in the subsequent trials. The time constant of the fitted exponential function revealed that the decay of retronasal aroma intensity was slightly faster in the second through fourth trials than in the first and the fifth through tenth trials. These results indicate that olfaction might be more perceptive while consumers sip a cup of the beverage.

In vivo antistress and antioxidant effects of fermented and germinated mung bean

Mung bean has been traditionally used to alleviate heat stress. This effect may be contributed by the presence of flavonoids and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). On the other hand, fermentation and germination have been practised to enhance the nutritional and antioxidant properties of certain food products. The main focus of current study was to compare the antistress effect of none-process, fermented and germinated mung bean extracts. Acute and chronic restraint stresses were observed to promote the elevation of serum biochemical markers including cholesterol, triglyceride, total protein, liver enzymes, and glucose. Chronic cold restraint stress was observed to increase theadrenal gland weight, brain 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) level while reducing brain antioxidant enzyme level. However, these parameters were found reverted in mice treated with diazepam, high concentration of fermented mung bean and high concentration of germinated mung bean. Moreover, enhanced level of antioxidant on the chronic stress mice was observed in fermented and germinated mung bean treated groups. In comparison between germinated and fermented mung bean, fermented mung bean always showed better antistress and antioxidant effects throughout this study.

Bioactivities of chicken essence

The special flavor and health effects of chicken essence are being widely accepted by people. Scientific researches are revealing its truth as a tonic food in traditional health preservation. Chicken essence has been found to possess many bioactivities including relief of stress and fatigue, amelioration of anxiety, promotion of metabolisms and post-partum lactation, improvement on hyperglycemia and hypertension, enhancement of immune, and so on. These activities of chicken essence are suggested to be related with its active components, including proteins, dipeptides (such as carnosine and anserine), polypeptides, minerals, trace elements, and multiple amino acids, and so on. Underlying mechanisms responsible for the bioactivities of chicken essence are mainly related with anti-stress, anti-oxidant, and neural regulation effects. However, the mechanisms are complicated and may be mediated via the combined actions of many active components, more than the action of 1 or 2 components alone.

Bioactive components of tea: cancer, inflammation and behavior

Tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages worldwide. Several studies have suggested that catechins and theaflavins found in tea may reduce the risk of various types of cancers. Major advances have been made to understand the molecular events leading to cancer prevention; however, the evidence is not conclusive. Evidence from pre-clinical and clinical studies also suggests that persistent inflammation can progress to cancer. Several possible mechanisms of action may explain the cancer preventive aspects of tea components specifically anti-inflammatory effects. In regards to brain health, green tea catechins have been recognized as multifunctional compounds for neuroprotection with beneficial effects on vascular function and mental performance. Theanine, a unique amino acid in tea, enhances cognition in humans and has neuroprotective effects. Human interventional studies with well characterized tea products are needed.

The anti-stress effects of Sarcandra glabra extract on restraint-evoked immunocompromise

Sarcandra glabra was a renowned herb traditionally used as herbal tea or food supplement to enhance mental efficiency and to recover from stress or fatigue in China. We investigated the effects of Sarcandra glabra extract (SGE), with chemical composition clearly showed by HPLC fingerprint as quality control, on immunologic response including natural killer (NK) cell activity and its antioxidative capacity in splenocytes obtained from restraint mice. Our results found that daily oral administration of SGE (125, 500 mg/kg/d) for 5 consecutive days to restrained mice alleviated the stress-induced reduction of the number of lymphocytes, the balance of CD4(+) T/CD8(+) T and NK cell activity per spleen. SGE also significantly decreased the level of lipid peroxidation and increased oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) in splenocytes. These results indicated that SGE modulate stress-attenuated immunologic response, at least, partially explained by improving antioxidative capacity in immunocytes.