A Cuppa Cancer Prevention?

Green tea, brewed or extracted, may help you dodge the big C.

Has anything garnered more health-news headlines lately than green tea? It seems that every time you turn around a new study is published that links this venerable beverage to increased well-being. Of course none of this is news to the Chinese, who have been singing tea's praises -- and using it to fight fatigue, strengthen memory, and aid digestion -- ever since its discovery by the semi-mythical emperor Shen Nung.

As tea spread throughout Asia, other folks were quick to catch on. "Tea has an extraordinary power to prolong life," proclaimed Kitcha Yojoki, who introduced Zen Buddhism to Japan. "Anywhere a person cultivates tea, long life will follow."

Today's scientists might be less poetic than tea's ancient admirers. But they are no less impressed by green tea's lengthy list of health-boosting compounds, including a powerful antioxidant called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) that may interfere with potentially harmful genetic changes. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found that EGCG binds to a protein called HSP90, jamming an important gene-damaging mechanism. Green tea may also help stymie cancer development by interacting with toxin-neutralizing enzymes in the liver and by encouraging apoptosis, a process that causes cells to die when their useful life is over.

Studies of actual tea-drinking humans have had mixed results; some show a cancer-preventive effect, others don't. The most promising research comes from China, where green tea is the beverage of choice. Among more than 18,000 men, those who drank tea were half as likely to develop cancer of the stomach or esophagus as non-imbibers.

Americans have traditionally favored black tea, which has different chemical properties. A 2005 American Institute for Cancer Research survey showed that only 15 percent of the U.S. population drinks green tea on any given day and less than 1 percent matches the per-person consumption seen in Asia (although green tea sales have climbed considerably in recent years).

Meanwhile, the good news continues to pour in. One investigation published in the journal Carcinogenesis found a 22 percent drop in breast cancer risk among women who quaffed five cups a day. And in two preliminary studies, green tea extract, which provides tea compounds in an easy-to-take form, has been linked to reduced risk of cancer in men with precancerous prostate changes and has benefited people with leukemia.

Other intriguing research involves the brain. According to Japanese scientists, drinking more than two cups of green tea a day lowers the risk of developing dementia among older people.

So remember the ancient Chinese proverb: "Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one." And if you don't have time for a freshly brewed cup, green tea extract is the next best thing.

Reprinted with permission from Energy Times