Tea’s Astounding New Powers

January 22, 2006

Posted by Jean Carper

Mayo Clinic researchers recently reported that green tea has reversed leukemia in some patients.

Astounding as that is, it’s not the only good news about the health-promoting powers of green tea. Here’s more:

Ovarian Cancer: Drinking a couple of cups of tea a day cuts a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer a remarkable 46%, say Swedish researchers. Even drinking a cup a day cut risk 24 percent compared with rarely or never drinking tea. The chief researcher, who advised women to drink a couple of cups of tea daily, said she drinks 6 cups a day.

Prostate Cancer: In equally mind-blowing research, modest doses of green tea capsules virtually wiped out development of prostate cancer in men at high risk.

Taking 600 mg a day of concentrated green tea catechins (300 mg EGCG) slashed a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer by nearly 90%, reported Italian researchers at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. The men, ages 45 to 75, had premalignant lesions, putting them at high risk of progressing to full blown prostate cancer.

After a year, only one man (3%) in a group of men taking the green tea catechins developed prostate cancer compared with 9 men (28%) who took a placebo.Thus, the green tea was nearly 90% effective in preventing development of prostate cancer. Researchers attribute the anti-cancer activity to the daily 300 mg of antioxidant EGCG. This is a very modest dose, found in 3 cups of brewed green tea or in a single Stop Aging Now! High Antioxidant Green Tea capsule.

As to whether green tea catechins could prevent prostate cancer, “the answer clearly is yes,” said head researcher Dr. Saverio Bettuzzi.

Diabetes and Complications: Tea is also a simple and inexpensive way to prevent diabetes and cataracts, according to Scranton University researchers. They fed green and black tea to diabetic rats for 3 months (the equivalent of 5 cups a day for humans.) The tea both reduced blood glucose levels and significantly inhibited cataract formation in the animals, a common complication of diabetes, said Joe Vinson, head of the study. He says green tea is more potent than black.

Autoimmune Disorders: The EGCG in green tea suppresses inflammatory activity, and thus, should greatly cut the risk of autoimmune disorders, says Dr. Stephen Hsu, at the Medical College of Dentistry. For example, he notes that about 30% of elderly Americans suffer dry mouth (xerostamina), an autoimmune disorder, compared with only 1 or 2 % of elderly Chinese who drink green tea.

In tests, Dr. Hsu has found that the EGCG in green tea does suppress autoantigens,in human cells and therefore might be expected to combat autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and Sjogren’s syndrome–a condition resulting in dry mouth and dry eyes, even dryness of the airways and skin.

Sources: Ovarian cancer: Larsson SC Archives of Internal Medicine, Dec. 12/26 2005; Hsu S. J Pharmacol Exp Ther2005 Nov; 315(2): 805-11.