Recently, green tea has become a topic of discussion in the international anti-doping community. Because some research and experimental results show that because green tea can reduce the level of testosterone in the human body, it may make athletes taking steroids pass urine tests. However, many anti-doping experts disagree with this statement.
In this experiment, researchers added green tea and white tea extracts called catechins to testosterone, and then tested whether the enzyme could still detect testosterone. Enzymes are usually proteins used to detect testosterone. Test results showed that catechin inhibited an enzyme called UGT2B17, which attaches glucuronic acid to testosterone, reducing testosterone concentrations by 30 percent. The diluting effect of catechins is most apparent when testosterone concentrations are slightly higher than normal. Catechins are present in both green and white tea, but are absent in black tea.
Testosterone is a steroid hormone. After athletes take banned drugs such as testosterone and testosterone, the testosterone concentration in the body can reach 2 to 3 times the normal value. One of the most notorious "liars" in the international sports world, former Canadian "Flyman" Ben Johnson, was found to have used anabolic steroids after winning the men's 100 meters championship at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
The first person to discover that green tea affects testosterone was Declan Norton of Kingston University in the UK and his colleagues. The laboratory they work at, located in Harlow, Essex, England, is one of the laboratories that will provide drug testing services for the London Olympics.
It is worth mentioning that the scientists involved in this experiment also admitted that the data currently obtained only come from animal experiments and have not yet been tested on humans.
The World Anti-Doping Organization (WADA) only expressed concern about the results of this experiment. Oliver Rabin, director of its scientific department, said: "It is very important that ordinary drinks like green tea can have a great impact on steroids. Interesting thing. We should probably adjust the testing method to find out whether the test results are interfered by food, drugs or training methods before confirming that the athlete's urine sample is positive."
Kickman, director of research and development at the Drug Control Center at King's College London, scoffed at the idea that green tea might become a "protective umbrella" for banned drugs. "If it were me, it would be impossible to drink nine cups of tea on game day." He said, "Even if I drink tea non-stop, the effect will be very limited. Can you imagine a person who has taken dopingAre athletes stupid enough to avoid urine tests by drinking green or white tea all the time?"
The London Olympics anti-doping laboratory is run by scientists from King's College London. It is estimated that there will be more than 1,000 people working in the laboratory during the Olympics. They will work 24 hours a day in shifts during the Olympics. It is expected that more than 6,250 urine and blood samples will be tested, which means that one out of every two athletes will be tested. Detection, which will include all medal winners.