It is said that Pu'er ripe tea "nourishes the stomach", here is the scientific evidence!

When many people are buying tea, they have more or less heard tea dealers or old tea drinkers say: "If you have a bad stomach, choose Pu'er ripe tea to nourish your stomach!"
Is there any scientific basis for this statement? Let’s find out!

【1】Stomach disease rejuvenation

The stomach is an important digestive organ in the human body. It is responsible for secreting gastric acid and digestive juices. It is an important "food processing factory" in the human body. The health of the stomach is related to the nutritional supply of the whole body.

Stomach disease does not refer to a specific symptom, but a general term for a series of stomach-related diseases, such as acute gastritis, chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer, gastric cancer, etc. Symptoms of these diseases include, but are not limited to, indigestion, bloating, acid reflux, stomach pain, etc.
When you see this and think about yourself, are you a little nervous? In fact, you are not an exception.
As the saying goes, “Nine out of ten people have stomach problems.” my country is a “big country with stomach problems” and has a very large group of gastric disease patients. According to statistics, the incidence of gastric diseases in China is as high as 85%.

Especially with the acceleration of the pace of life, stomach problems are becoming more and more youthful. According to research data from CMH, a health industry data and consulting service platform, the penetration rate of gastric diseases among young adults aged 18 to 35 is about 30%, even exceeding the total of middle-aged and elderly people aged 45 and over.

[2] Factors causing stomach problems

1. Helicobacter pylori: The 2017 "Chinese Consensus Opinions on Chronic Gastritis" pointed out that 70% to 90% of patients with chronic gastritis are infected with Helicobacter pylori.

2. High-salt pickled and barbecued foods: The probability of gastric cancer is 1.7 times higher for people who consume salted foods with high nitrite content than those with low intakes; barbecued foods also contain carcinogens such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. .

3. Drug stimulation: Some drugs such as phenylbutazone, indomethacin, cinchofen, salicylates, digitalis, etc. can cause chronic gastric mucosal damage.

4. Irregular work and rest: long-term mental stress, irregular eating time and irregular work and rest life; due to environmental and climate changes, failure to adapt in a short period of time will lead to gastric nerve dysfunction, gastric juice secretion and gastric motility disorders.

When chronic gastritis symptoms such as stomach pain, bloating, and acidity occur in the stomach, if not treated in time, it will further develop into gastric mucosal atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia, eventually leading to the occurrence of gastric cancer.

[3] Scientific research on Pu’er ripe tea nourishing the stomach

With the increase in the number of drinkers, the gastroprotective effect of Pu'er ripe tea is perceived by more and more consumers. Modern scientific research has further confirmed the protective effect of Pu'er tea on the stomach:

1. Pu'er tea improves gastrointestinal motility and aids digestion

In 2017, Meng Tingting and others from Xi'an Peihua University School of Medicine conducted a study on "The Effect of Pu'er Tea on Gastrointestinal Motility Function", using in vivo experiments and in vitro experiments to observe the effects of Pu'er tea on gastrointestinal motility and gastrointestinal motility. Changes in tissue contraction tension, amplitude and frequency, in vivo experimental results show that after drinking Pu'er tea, the propulsion distance of food in the intestines increases significantly, which helps to increase intestinal motility; in vitro experimental results show that the gastrointestinal tissue of the Pu'er tea group The average tension, amplitude and frequency of contraction showed an upward trend and were statistically different. That is, Pu'er tea can promote gastrointestinal motility, improve gastrointestinal motility, and aid digestion.

2. Pu'er tea relieves chronic atrophic gastritis

In 2016, Pu Xiaolin and others from the First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province conducted a study on the effect of Pu'er tea capsules on the expression levels of CDX2 and SOX2 proteins in the gastric mucosa of atrophic gastritis. They selected patients with chronic atrophic gastritis diagnosed by histopathology and randomly divided them into observation groups. group and control group, 60 cases in each group. All patients in the observation group took Pu'er tea capsules 380 mg (2 capsules) orally, 4 times/d, for 6 months, and the control group took 2 placebo capsules, 4 times/d, orally. At 6 months, immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of CDX2 and SOX2 proteins in the gastric mucosa of the two groups before and after treatment. The results showed that the expression levels of CDX2 and SOX2 proteins were significantly different between the observation group and those after taking Pu'er tea capsules, indicating that Pu'er tea has a certain effect on chronic atrophic gastritis.

3. Pu’er tea reduces the risk of Helicobacter pylori infection

In 2020, in a study titled "Gut Microbiome and Metabolome Response of Pu-erh Tea on Metabolism Disorder Induced by Chronic Alcohol Consumption", Zeng Liang's team from Southwest University used animal experiments to study the effect of Pu'er ripe tea extract on alcohol-induced mice. Protective effects of model gastrointestinal microbiome and metabolome disturbances. The results indicate that Pu'er tea extract improves oxidative stress, inflammation, lipid accumulation, and liver and colon damage induced by chronic alcohol intake by modulating microbiome and metabolome responses. At the same time, alcohol-induced fecal microbiota dysbiosis was restored by increasing the relative abundance of potentially beneficial bacteria (such as Bifidobacteria and Allobacteriaceae) and reducing the relative abundance of potentially harmful bacteria (such as Helicobacter pylori and Bacteroidetes).

【4】 Functional ingredients of Pu’er ripe tea for nourishing the stomach

The scientific research team of Dayi No. 7 Hospital reviewed the research progress on the protective effect of Pu'er ripe tea active ingredients on the stomach. The article was published in the journal "Chinese Tea Processing".

Based on the results of a large number of relevant literature surveys, the article further analyzes and speculates that Pu'er ripe tea may exert its gastroprotective effects through various methods such as anti-gastric mucosal damage, anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, inhibition of Helicobacter pylori, and anti-gastric cancer. It has "multi-substance, multi-material" properties. Target, multi-mechanism” characteristics.

From the perspective of changes in content, the contents of tea polyphenol derivatives, tea polysaccharides, gallic acid, ellagic acid, and quercetin in Pu'er ripe tea increased significantly after fermentation, and studies have confirmed that these substances are harmful to gastric damage. It has a certain protective effect, so the gastric protective effect of Pu'er ripe tea is most likely the result of the combined effect of these contained substances.

1. Tea polyphenol derivatives: inhibit the growth of Helicobacter pylori; reduce inflammatory response; enhance antioxidant activity; protect the mucin content in gastric tissue.

2. Gallic acid: Inhibits the growth of Helicobacter pylori; resists gastric cancer cell metastasis; activates the antioxidant system; inhibits gastric acid secretion; increases gastric mucosal PGE2 and NO levels, etc.

3. Ellagic acid: inhibits the growth of Helicobacter pylori; induces apoptosis of gastric cancer cells and inhibits cell migration; inhibits H+, K+-ATPase; reduces inflammation and oxidative stress markers; regulates IL-4, EGF/HGF levels and COX pathway, upregulating mucosal growth factor levels and maintaining the balance of pro/anti-inflammatory cytokines.

4. Quercetin: reduces the availability of iron, reduces the stability of bacterial membranes or inhibits the attachment mechanism to affect the growth of Helicobacter pylori; reduces gastric acid secretion; reduces oxidative stress, increases antioxidant enzyme activity, anti-inflammatory activity; inhibits cells Proliferate, activate the mitochondrial pathway to produce obvious pro-apoptotic effects, regulate the Akt-mTOR signaling pathway and the hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (hIF-1α) signaling pathway, activate autophagy, and induce cell apoptosis.

5. Theaflavins: Enhance the antioxidant defense of gastric mucosa, protect mucin, increase the synthesis of COX-derived PGE; downregulate various mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways.

6. Tea polysaccharide: Increases antioxidant enzyme activity and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels, reduces lipid peroxidation levels and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels; protects the gastric mucus layer and reduces inflammatory reactions.

【5】 The plan to protect your “stomach” starts now

The health of the stomach lies in "maintenance"!

Unhealthy diet, irregular work and rest...all slowly and unknowingly damage your stomach. You think you are still young and it doesn't matter, but your stomach may have been complaining for a long time.

If you are already aware of the importance of stomach health, it is not too late to start taking action now.

1. Pay attention to the regularity and health of eating: No matter how busy you are, you should try to eat three regular meals and eat less spicy, spicy, raw and cold foods. You should also be careful not to regard "beer and barbecue crayfish" as your daily routine, let alone overeating, and eat in a rationed amount.

2. Drinking a cup of Pu'er ripe tea regularly will also help your stomach health: during working hours, have a cup of Pu'er ripe tea, which is mellow and smooth, drive away fatigue, warm the stomach and soothe the mind; after meals, have a cup of Pu'er ripe tea, The oil relieves greasiness, lightens the "belly" burden, and makes you feel light and comfortable. In your leisure time, have a cup of Pu'er ripe tea to relax your body and mind, accompanied by warmth and comfort.

references:
[1] Yang Rui, Deng Xiaocui, et al. Research progress on the protective effect of active ingredients of Pu'er ripe tea on the stomach [J]. Chinese Tea Processing, 2024 (1): 68-77.
[2] Meng Tingting, Chen Jiankang, Shang Congshan, et al. Effects of Pu'er tea on gastrointestinal motility function [J]. Journal of Clinical Medical Literature (Electronic Edition), 2017, 4(41): 7932-7932.
[3] Pu Xiaolin, Zuo Zan, Zhang Pengli, et al. Study on the expression levels of CDX2 and SOX2 proteins in the gastric mucosa of atrophic gastritis treated with Pu'er tea capsules [J]. Yunnan Medicine, 2016, 37(4): 399-402.
[4] LIU Y, LUO Y, WANG X, et al. Gut Microbiome and metabolome response of Pu-erh tea on metabolic disorder induced by chronic alcohol consumption [J]. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2020, 68(24): 6615 -6627.