Prettywood Tea Journal

(NaturalNews) According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 35,720 new cases of oral and/or pharynx cancer will strike Americans this year. And, unfortunately, less than 50% of these people are expected to live for five years or more after diagnosis. However, scientists may have found a natural substance that can prevent these types of malignancies — green tea.

Green tea is known to be rich in polyphenols, a type of phytonutrient shown to inhibit the development of cancer in many laboratory studies. The new research, conducted by scientists at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and just published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, is the first to test green tea as a cancer preventing agent in people who are at especially high risk for oral cancer because they have leukoplakia. A pre-malignant condition, oral leukoplakia is an area of whitish abnormal tissue that develops in the mouth or throat.

For the study, 41 oral leukoplakia patients at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center were divided into groups that received either an inactive placebo or a green tea extract taken orally for three months at low, medium, or high doses. In a statement to the press, the research team noted that the green tea extract was well tolerated even in the patients given the high doses and it produced no significant toxicity.

A baseline biopsy was taken when the study started and repeated as the study was underway. When the scientists checked the progression of the pre-malignant oral lesions, they found that almost 60% of patients taking the highest doses of green tea extract displayed a positive clinical response, compared with only 18.2% of those who were given the placebo. There was improved histology (the appearance of abnormal tissues when examined microscopically) and also a beneficial trend in biomarkers which are believed to be indicators of future cancer development.

“Collecting oral tissue biopsies was essential in that it allowed us to learn that not only did the green tea extract appear to have benefit for some patients, but we pointed to anti-angiogenic effects as a potential mechanism of action,” Anne Tsao, M.D., assistant professor in M. D. Anderson’s Department of Thoracic, Head and Neck Medical Oncology, and the study’s first author, said in a statement to the media. “While preliminary because our patient population was so small, this gives us direction for further study.”

The research participants were followed for 27.5 months and at the time the study concluded, 15 had developed oral cancer. Overall, there was no difference in oral cancer development between those who took green tea and those who did not. So what was the benefit of taking the green tea extract? It took far longer for cancer to develop in the high risk patients who took green tea extract, strongly suggesting that the green tea was slowing the development of malignant cells. And that clearly raises the possibility that green tea extracts started earlier or used longer might have a stronger impact and prevent oral cancer.

“While still very early, and not definitive proof that green tea is an effective preventive agent, these results certainly encourage more study for patients at highest risk for oral cancer,” Vassiliki Papadimitrakopoulou, M.D., professor in M. D. Anderson’s Department of Thoracic, Head and Neck Medical Oncology, and the study’s senior author, said in the press statement.

As NaturalNews has previously reported, recent research has also suggested green tea may protect against blood and liver cancers (http://www.naturalnews.com/027379_g…). Scientists are finding evidence green tea could prevent prostate cancer, too (http://www.naturalnews.com/026872_P…).

Even accounting for complicating factors, participants in a recent study showed an inverse relationship between green tea consumption and psychological distress.

The study, published in the September 2009 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was conducted at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. It sought to clarify, through a large-scale study, whether green tea consumption was associated with lower psychological distress.

A team of medical researchers analyzed data gathered from 42,093 Japanese people age 40 and older. They had answered questions about their lifestyle, including green tea drinking habits and psychological distress as indicated by the Kessler 6-item scale.

After cross-sectioning and qualifying data, the team found an inverse relationship green tea consumption and psychological distress. Respondents who consumed five or more cups of green tea per day were 80 percent less likely to suffer psychological distress than those who consumed one cup or less of green tea per day.

According to an abstract, the inverse relationship between green tea consumption and psychological distress “persisted when respondents were stratified by social support subgroups or by activities in communities,” and “even after adjustment for possible confounding factors.”

excerpt from World Tea News

A new study from Japan was published this week showing that green tea may help with stress. The study found that drinking green tea may reduce psychological stress by as much as 20 percent. In this study of 42,093 Japanese individuals, 6.6% suffered from psychological stress. In those individuals suffering from stress, green tea consumption improved psychological well-being.

The global tea market is worth about $941 million. Green tea makes up just 20 percent of the total tea market. However, research continues to show that it provides health benefits much greater than black tea, which makes up 78 percent of the market. Green tea contains over four times more antioxidants than black tea. For example, green tea contains 70 mg catechins per 100 mL compared to just 15 mg per mL for black tea.

So if you’re a tea drinker, consider switching from black tea to green tea and take advantage of the additional antioxidants and their associated health benefits. However, keep in mind that this study looked at the traditional consumption of green tea, not the blended, frozen green tea treat commonly consumed here in the United States at popular cofee shops. The extra sugar and fat found in the frozen, blended preparation is likely to counter the benefits of green tea. To get maximum benefits consume green tea as it is traditionally prepared by the Japanese and other Asian countries.

excerpt from Examiner.com

Drink green tea. According to a study published in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry the EGCG in green tea aids in preventing breast cancer. The polyphenols-powerful antioxidants found in green tea- can prevent cancer cells from growing. Drink 1-3 cups of caffeine-free green tea per day.

excerpt from NaturalNews.com

Drinking five cups of green tea a day can lower the risk of developing certain blood cancers, according to a new Japanese study.

Casting a doubt on the theory of all things in small doses, the research showed that high consumption of green tea helps to fight the development of cancer.

The health benefits of drinking anti-oxidant rich green tea have been well documented, although they are more commonly associated with lowering the risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

The new study, conducted by Tohoku University, analysed the age, gender, lifestyle and health of 40,000 Japanese over a ten-year period for a range of scientific research purposes.

In relation to green tea consumption, Dr Toru Naganuma concluded that drinking the beverage may have a favourable effect “for particular cancers”.

Dr Naganuma examined the impact of varying green tea levels on the health of the people taking part in the study in conjunction with examining their diets in the context of alcohol, soybean and fish consumption.

The results showed that the overall risk of blood cancers was reduced by 42 per cent among participants who drank five or more daily cups in comparison with those who drank one cup or less a day while the findings were 48 per cent.

by Telegraph.co.uk.com

A study led by researchers from the Lipton Institute of Tea has indicated that drinking green tea with a high concentration of catechins could help moderately overweight people lose pounds, inches and fat.

Conducted over the course of 90 days at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, the study resulted in a research report that’s been published in the journal Obesity.

Researchers gave a group of 182 moderately overweight 18- to 55-year-old Chinese subjects two daily doses of green tea with varying amounts of catechins, from 30 to 900 milligrams. At regular intervals, the researchers measured patients’ body weight, body fat mass and fat distribution.

They found that, at the end of three months, those subjects who had consumed the highest concentration of catechins all lost weight, inches, fat and total lean mass.

Significant decreases in body weight and fat mass “were more pronounced in the group consuming the highest amount of catechins and the results also suggest that the effects were particularly strong on fat located in the abdominal region,” a news release about the study stated. “In addition, they did not consume any other beverages containing catechins or caffeine during the intervention period - so we can be confident that the effects seen are a consequence of the green tea intervention.”

By World Tea News