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New Study Shows Benefits of Green Tea
Studies suggest that drinking green tea can help prevent cancer. Previous research has shown the benefits of consuming green tea including reducing the risk of breast, prostate, bladder, ovarian, lung, pancreatic and skin cancer.
A recent study has provided even more evidence supporting the cancer preventing benefits of green tea. The study found that green tea consumption in older women (middle age and older) had a lower risk of stomach, colon and throat cancers.
According to the new study, drinking green tea daily can reduce your risk of cancer when 3 or more cups of green tea a week are consumed.
The study examined the Shanghai Women’s Health Study which included 69,310 Chinese women participants.
Researchers found that over a period of 11 years those who regularly consumed green tea had a 14 percent lower risk of developing colorectal and stomach/esophageal cancers.
Additionally, it was noted that when a participant reported drinking higher amounts of green tea their risk of cancer decreased even more.
Green tea not only has cancer protective properties, it also has many additional benefits for overall health. Green tea contains the highest concentration of polyphenols which are powerful antioxidants.
Polyphenols in green tea can neutralize free radicals due to oxidative stress and prevent damage. Free radicals can cause damage to DNA and may cause cell death.
Green tea’s high amount of polyphenols also reffered to as cathechins include; epigallo-cathechin-3 gallate, epigallo-cathechin and epicathechin-3 gallate.Epigallo-cathechin-3 gallate has the ability to inhibit urokinase (uPA), a proteolytic enzyme that invades cells and form metastases, which human cancer cells require.
Inhibition of uPA causes a decrease in tumor size and/or cause complete remission of cancer.
The presence of high levels of uPA inhibitors may reduce the incidence of cancer in humans or the size of cancer already formed.
Additionally, research has shown that green tea can lower total cholesterol and raises HDL (the good cholesterol).
Sources:
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/green-tea-000255.htm#ixzz2AiQOeTZ4
http://golemxiv.dh.meduohio.edu/pdf/Nature.pdf
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/96/5/1056.abstract
Wow, green tea really does do a lot. With everything people seem to be discovering about it – it seems like a wonder tea.
I just read in my latest Prevention magazine that adding lemon juice to the green tea enhances the healing properties of the tea. I started doing that this week and like it 🙂
I love green tea, so that’s great news for me!
It must be good, as the anti-health brigade have recently attempted to say it causes cancers. Clear sign to me that this stuff is very good 🙂
Great point! Thank you for sharing 🙂