Drinking just three cups of black tea a day can slash the risk of a heart attack by 60 per cent and dramatically reduce the threat of diabetes, experts say.

The benefits of drinking green tea are numerous, as various studies have shown that compounds in green tea help to mitigate conditions like obesity, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and cancer (more). And a recent study published in theJournal of the American Dietetic Associationadds to this body of evidence, as it reveals that consuming green tea or green tea supplements regularly can help naturally lower LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol levels.

For their study, Olivia Phung, an assistant professor of pharmacy at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Cal., and her colleagues analyzed data from 20 clinical trials on green tea that included more than 1,400 adults. They found that participants who consumed green tea or green tea supplements every day experienced a five-to-six point average drop in LDL cholesterol compared to those taking a placebo.

The various trials included in the evaluation lasted anywhere from three weeks to six months, and the benefits of green tea were most apparent in participants that already had high cholesterol prior to joining the studies. Green tea in beverage form was reportedly more effective than green tea in capsule or supplement form at lowering cholesterol levels.

Green tea contains polyphenolic compounds known as catechins, which in previous studies, has been shown to promote weight loss (http://www.naturalnews.com/News_000…). These same antioxidant compounds are believed to be what is responsible for green tea’s cholesterol-lowering effects.

“Green tea catechins have been studied fairly extensively as preventive agents for cardiovascular disease,” writes Tori Hudson, ND, in her bookWomen’s Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine: Alternative Therapies and Integrative Medicine for Total Health and Wellness. In one cited study, “flavanoid-rich green tea extract (375mg) for three months along with a low-fat diet decreased total cholesterol by 11.3 percent and LDL by 16.4 percent in men and women with mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia.”

Not all cholesterol is bad, however, and the jury is still out as to whether or not having “low cholesterol” is a good thing. It appears as though cholesterol itself is not the culprit in heart disease and artery hardening, but rather the accumulation of oxidized cholesterol, which is a result of other dietary factors.

Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, for instance, recently found that women with high cholesterol levels actually have fewer heart attacks and strokes than women with lower cholesterol levels (http://www.naturalnews.com/033975_h…).

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/034279_green_tea_bad_cholesterol.html#ixzz1hVTF3opk

A flavonoid found in green tea inhibits the hepatitis C virus (HVC) from entering the liver, a new study has found. According to German researchers, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) may offer an antiviral strategy to prevent HCV reinfection following liver transplantation.

HCV infection can lead to chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or primary liver cancer. HCV is one of the most common causes of chronic liver disease and a primary indication for liver transplantation, affecting up to 170 million individuals worldwide according to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO).

While standard treatment with interferon with ribavirin and newer protease inhibitors may clear infection in some individuals, a substantial number of patients still may not respond to these therapies.

For individuals receiving liver transplants due to complications from HCV, reinfection of the healthy donor liver remains a significant concern. Antiviral strategies that target HCV in its early stages are urgently needed to prevent graft reinfection and improve long-term outcomes for patients.

To address this critical issue, Sandra Ciesek and Eike Steinmann from the Hannover Medical School in Germany investigated the effect of the EGCG molecule in preventing HCV from attaching to liver cells.

“Green tea catechins such as EGCG and its derivatives epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechingallate (ECG), and epicatechin (EC) have been shown to exhibit antiviral and anti-oncogenic properties,” Ciesek said.

“Our study further explores the potential effect these flavonoids have in preventing HCV reinfection following liver transplantation,” she said.

Results showed that unlike its derivatives, EGCG inhibits entry of HCV into liver cells. The authors suggest that EGCG may impede HCV cell entry by acting on the host cell as the green tea catechin was not found to alter the density of virus particles.

Pretreatment of cells with EGCG before HCV inoculation did not reduce the infection, however, application during inoculation inhibited the rapid spread of the HCV.

Lastly, researchers showed that EGCG inhibits viral attachment-the initial step in the HCV infection process.

“The green tea antioxidant EGCG inhibits HCV cell entry by blocking viral attachment and may offer a new approach to prevent HCV infection, particularly reinfection following liver transplantation.” Ciesek added,

The study has been published in Hepatology.

Green tea, taken in a capsule or drunk in a cup, may shave a few points off “bad” cholesterol readings, according to a U.S. study involving more than a thousand people.

The findings, published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, showed that green tea trimmed 5 to 6 points more from people’s total cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol levels than dummy capsules or other treatments.

The trials tested either green tea itself or capsules containing green-tea compounds called catechins, which are thought to decrease cholesterol absorption in the gut.

Green tea in a cup was more consistently effective than capsules, though the benefits overall were fairly small, noted senior researcher Olivia Phung, an assistant professor of pharmacy at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California.

“If someone is already taking medication for their cholesterol, they should stick with it and not try to trade it for green tea, either capsules or the beverage,” she told Reuters Health in an email.

But adding green tea to your diet could be one way to further improve cholesterol numbers, she said.

The researchers, however, found no strong evidence that green tea boosted “good” HDL cholesterol, or cut triglycerides, another type of blood fat.

Phung’s team pooled the results of 20 clinical trials that involved a total of 1,415 adults.

Participants were randomly assigned to either use green tea every day, as a beverage or capsule, or be part of “control” groups that took placebo capsules, drank a low-catechin tea or downed water.

The trials lasted anywhere from three weeks to six months and the benefits seemed to be limited to people who already had high cholesterol when they entered the study.

Overall, tea seemed more effective than capsules, though Phung said there isn’t enough data to be sure that the beverage is better than the green tea extract.

A number of clinical trials that examined whether green tea, or its extracts, can benefit people’s cholesterol levels have reached mixed conclusions. Most of the trials have been small, making them less reliable.

There are other questions too, including what dose of green tea catechins is ideal.

In the trials Phung’s team studied, the researchers were unable to test for a “dose-response” effect, which would have shown whether the cholesterol benefits increase as the catechin dose goes up.

“We would really need to have some head-to-head studies comparing the different forms of green tea in order to show which ones work more effectively,” Phung said.

As for side effects, green tea is considered safe in moderate amounts, though the drink and the extracts contain caffeine, which some people may need to avoid.

There have also been a few dozen cases of liver damage reported among people using green tea extracts, but it’s not certain that the supplements are to blame. SOURCE: bit.ly/rujlW7

(Reporting from New York by Amy Norton at Reuters Health; editing by Elaine Lies and Idayu Suparto)

IT MAY sound like a strange brew, but green tea and red light could provide a novel treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Together, the two can destroy the rogue “plaques” that crowd the brains of people with the disease. The light makes it easier for the green-tea extract to get to work on the plaques.

Andrei Sommer at the University of Ulm in Germany, and colleagues, have previously used red light with a wavelength of 670 nanometres to transport cancer drugs into cells. The laser light pushes water out of the cells and when the laser is switched off, the cells “suck in” water and any other molecules, including drugs, from their surroundings.

Now, Sommer’s team have found that the same technique can be used to destroy the beta-amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s. These plaques consist of abnormally folded peptides, and are thought to disrupt communication between nerve cells, leading to loss of memory and other symptoms.

The team bathed brain cells containing beta-amyloid in epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) – a green-tea extract known to have beta-amyloid inhibiting properties – at the same time as stimulating the cells with red light. Beta-amyloid in the cells reduced by around 60 per cent. Shining the laser light alone onto cells reduced beta-amyloid by around 20 per cent (Photomedicine and Laser Surgery, DOI: 10.1089/pho.2011.3073).

It can be difficult getting drugs into the brain, but animal experiments show that the green-tea extract can penetrate the so-called blood-brain barrier when given orally together with red light. The light, which can penetrate tissue and bone, stimulates cell mitochondria to kick-start a process that increases the barrier’s permeability, says Sommer.

There is no reason why other drugs that attack beta-amyloid could not be delivered to the brain in the same way, he adds.

“This important research could form the basis of a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s, with or without complementary drug treatment,” says Mario Trelles, medical director of the Vilafortuny Medical Institute in Cambrils, Spain.

“The technique described could help to regulate and even stop the appearance of this disease,” he adds.

Watson Clinic Trial is Studying Impact of Green Tea Leaf Extract.

Green tea has a soothing, comforting connotation, and its concentrated power may be able to put pre-cancerous prostate cells in their place.

A drug called polyphenon E, a concentrated extract from green tea leaves, has shown promise in lab and animal studies at controlling pre-cancerous prostate conditions that could develop into prostate cancer.

“The green-tea polyphenon stops the cells from multiplying in a crazy, rowdy manner,” said Nagi Kumar, director of cancer chemoprevention at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. “It helps the cells behave like they’re supposed to behave.”

A clinical trial sponsored by Moffitt, in which Lakeland’s Watson Clinic is participating, now is measuring polyphenon’s effect on men.

The men being enrolled are those identified through biopsies as having abnormal, excessive growth of prostate cells, called high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) or atypical small acinar proliferation (ASAP).

They aren’t eligible if they have prostate cancer, prostatitis or urinary tract infections.

“This is a way for us to be on the front end of things,” said Noreen McGowan, a registered nurse who heads the clinical trials program at Watson Clinic Center for Research.

People are positive about this study and others that focus on prevention, said Susan Collins, a registered nurse supervising the polyphenon E trial there.

Patients with HGPIN usually have symptoms and go to their urologists, said Kumar, who is also a professor of oncologic sciences at the University of South Florida College of Medicine.

A biopsy discloses cells that can be precursors of prostate cancers.

She said 27 percent to 35 percent of men will develop prostate cancer within a year or two if they are at the HGPIN stage.

The other condition, ASAP for short, sometimes gets called stage zero because it’s almost cancer but isn’t quite there yet, she said.

The previous lab and animal trials had positive results in controlling development of cancer from those conditions and in controlling the progression of cancer that developed, Kumar said.

In this clinical trial, men take either the polyphenon E capsule or an inert placebo capsule twice a day. They also take vitamins, Collins said.

Neither the men nor the researchers know which patient is given the actual ingredient being tested.

After six months, participants’ prostate specific antigen level will be checked and they will get rectal exams.

If those are normal, they continue in the trial for another six months.

Previous research led by Kumar, reviewing women’s tea drinking patterns, found a 37 percent reduced breast cancer risk in women younger than 50 who drank three of more cups of green or black tea a day. That was in comparison to younger women who didn’t drink tea.

That supports a “potential beneficial influence,” but further research is needed to confirm the association, she said.

A similar link hasn’t been made with ovarian cancer, but Dr. Patricia Judson, a gynecologic oncologist at Moffitt, said lab research

in petri dishes on 12 different cell lines of ovarian cancer found fermented wheat germ extract could kill ovarian cancer cells.

The ongoing study of polyphenon E and pre-cancerous prostate cells could assume more importance in view of disagreement about prostate cancer screening and treatment.

Confusion and disagreement exist with HGPIN as well, according to an article in the October 2010 issue of Renal & Urology News.

Many urologists ignore its presence completely, wrote Dr. J. Stephen Jones, chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Department of Regional Urology and a professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.

If HGPIN is found in multiple places within the prostate, it’s associated with cancer development in approximately half of patients within the next five years to six years, he said.

If an adequate biopsy finds HGPIN in just one place, it may be insignificant.

Pennsylvania State University researchers have discovered yet another impressive property of green tea – it can slow down weight gain and counter obesity. This recent study analyzed the health development of a test group of obese mice that were fed a high-fat diet mixed with green tea extracts, and compared it to that of a control group of obese mice that were fed the same diet, without the green tea compounds. The mice in the test group gained weight at a much slower rate than the mice in the control group, and they appeared to be in better health overall.

Assistant professor of food science in agricultural sciences, Joshua Lambert, who was part of this research, explained that “in this experiment, we see the rate of body weight gain slows down.”

Green tea is believed to have originated in China, although many Asian cultures traditionally prepare and consume this type of tea. It is produced from the leaves of Camellia sinensis that have only undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea has the highest content of antioxidants among commonly consumed foods and beverages, and that is why it has consistently attracted scientific attention over the last few decades.

Green tea can also provide the body with considerable amounts of carotenoids, vitamin C, and trace elements (including chromium, manganese, selenium and zinc). Both animal and human studies have revealed that green tea has the potential to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and to help with the prevention of tooth decay by improving bone quality and density, as well as to fight against different forms of cancer.

The study recently conducted at Penn State had the test mice on a high-fat diet enriched with Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (or EGCG), which is an important compound found in green tea that is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. These mice gained weight at a 45% slower rate than the control group of mice, who were on the same high-fat diet.

The mechanism of action is believed to be linked to how the body absorbs fats. The analysis of fecal matter from the test mice revealed that they eliminated 30% more lipids than the mice in the control group, which implies that green tea may reduce lipid absorption.

Assistant professor Lambert explained: “[T]here seems to be two prongs to this. First, EGCG reduces the ability to absorb fat and, second, it enhances the ability to use fat.” Moreover, green tea had no impact whatsoever on appetite, as both groups of mice consumed roughly equal amounts of food. To match the EGCG quantities used in the study, a normal person would have to drink around 10 cups of green tea per day; however, Lambert assures us that only a few cups per day may also help obese individuals control body weight.

He also added that although his study was conducted on mice, “human data, and there’s not a lot at this point, shows that tea drinkers who only consume one or more cups a day will see effects on body weight compared to nonconsumers.”

Assistant professor Lambert’s team included Kimberly Grove and Sudathip Sae-tan, who are both graduate students in food science, as well Mary Kennett, professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences. The study was featured in the online version of the journal Obesity, and it is supported by the National Institute for Health.

The science team pointed out that although green tea interferes with lipid absorption in individuals of all body weights, its impact is more noticeable when used with overweight individuals who want to shake off extra pounds.

[Editor`s Note: NaturalNews is strongly against the use of all forms of animal testing. We fully support implementation of humane medical experimentation that promotes the health and wellbeing of all living creatures.]

Sources for this article include:

http://www.endocrine-abstracts.org/…
http://www.sciencedaily.com/release…
http://www.greentealibrary.com/GT%2…
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/…

About the author

Raw Michelle is a natural health blogger and researcher, sharing her passions with others, using the Internet as her medium. She discusses topics in a straight forward way in hopes to help people from all walks of life achieve optimal health and well-being. She has authored and published hundreds of articles on topics such as the raw food diet and green living in general. In 2010, Michelle createdRawFoodHealthWatch.com, to share with people her approach to the raw food diet and detoxification.

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/033894_green_tea_obesity.html#ixzz1csv7YX90

Five thousand years ago in China, herbal teas were specially blended from plants that exhibited medicinal properties. And today, tea can still be used to maintain health and prevent illness. Find out what makes tea so beneficial and how you can craft your own custom blend to stay healthy.

First of all, what is tea? Technically speaking, tea is the dried and processed leaves of Camellia sinensis, and includes four main tea varieties: black, oolong, green and white. Black tea, produced when tea leaves undergo an oxidizing process that turns the leaves black, has the strongest flavor and the highest content of caffeine – about one-third the caffeine of a cup of coffee. Oolong tea is slightly less oxidized and has less caffeine. Green tea is steamed, rolled and dried immediately after harvest, which halts the oxidation process, allowing the leaves to retain their green color. White tea undergoes the least processing – the young tea buds are picked and air-dried.

All of these varieties have different health benefits. Experts believe that flavonoids are the key health-promoting ingredient in tea. These polyphenol antioxidants are present in many foods and plants, including tea leaves, and have been found to help prevent cell damage. Recent research suggests that tea may also protect against heart disease and many types of cancer.

What about herbal tea? Herbal tea is not really tea at all, but actually an infusion made from various leaves, flowers, fruits and herbs. Herbal tea can also boast many medicinal properties – and it’s caffeine-free. Tailor your tea for your needs by selecting herbs and plants that address your specific health issue. The list of tea recipes that follows offers just a few combinations to help you heal.

1. Warming Tea for Cold Hands and Feet

For a warming tea, make a cinnamon and clove concoction by putting two cinnamon sticks and one teaspoon of cloves in three cups of water. Boil for 15 minutes and then strain. Drink three cups each day.

2. Pore-Opening Tea for Combating a Cold

This is a traditional Chinese remedy for a “wind cold,” which usually occurs during seasonal changes and is often a result of exposure to drafts. At the early stage, Chinese medicine suggests that perspiration is helpful in removing the pathogens from the skin.

Boil one chopped garlic clove, three slices of ginger, one chopped scallion, some basil and a pinch of cinnamon in 24 ounces of water for five minutes. Drink the tea hot and go to bed. Cover up and prepare to sweat. Sweating opens the pores, releasing trapped pathogens from the skin. Drink at least three cups of tea daily until symptoms subside.

3. Stomach-Settling Tea

Ginger has been shown to soothe the digestive lining and balance gastric juices. Make ginger tea by slicing fresh ginger root into two-inch long slices and boiling in one cup of water for five minutes. Strain out the ginger and sip the tea slowly.

4. Alertness-Enhancing Tea

The next time you need a pick-me-up, instead of reaching for harsh stimulants like coffee, try the potent yet gentle energizers in your spice rack. Studies have found that compounds in everyday herbs and spices can increase mental function and physical vitality. All these herbs and spices contain volatile oils that stimulate your senses and increase alertness: dill, oregano, cilantro, rosemary, sage, bay, peppermint, ginger, garlic, parsley, cinnamon, onion, chives, garlic and leek. Make a tea from any combo!

Erxi Wu, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and Fengfei Wang, research associate of pharmaceutical sciences, co-wrote the article, “Anti-cancer activities of tea epigallocatechin-3-gallate in breast cancer patients under radiotherapy,” which will be published by Current Molecular Medicine.

In the study, they tested the hypothesis that administration of epigallocatechin-3-gallate, a polyphenol present in abundance in widely consumed tea, inhibits cell proliferation, invasion and angiogenesis in breast cancer patients.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate in 400 mg capsules was orally administered three times daily to breast cancer patients undergoing treatment by radiotherapy. Parameters related to cell proliferation, invasion and angiogenesis were analyzed while blood samples were collected at different time points to determine efficacy of the treatment.

Compared to patients who received radiotherapy alone, those given radiotherapy plus epigallocatechin-3-gallate for an extended time period (two to eight weeks) showed significantly lower serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor, hepatocyte growth factor and reduced activation of metalloproteinase-9 and metalloproteinase-2. Addition of sera obtained from patients treated by combination of radiotherapy and epigallocatechin-3-gallate feeding for two to eight weeks to in vitro cultures of highly-metastatic human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells resulted in the following significant changes: (1) suppression of cell proliferation and invasion; (2) arrest of cell cycles at the G0/G1 phase; (3) reduction of activation of MMP9/MMP2, expressions of Bcl-2/Bax, c-Met receptor, NF-κB and the phosphorylation of Akt. MDA-MB-231 cells exposed to 5-10 µM epigallocatechin-3-gallate also showed significant augmentation of the apoptosis inducing effects of g-radiation, concomitant with reduced NF-κB protein level and AKT phosphorylation.

“This is the first study to use EGCG in human breast cancer patients. Our results provide hitherto unreported evidence that EGCG potentiated efficacy of radiotherapy in breast cancer patients, and raise the possibility that this tea polyphenol has potential to be a therapeutic adjuvant against human metastatic breast cancer,” Wu said. They collaborated with Guoying Zhang’s lab from Yantai University, China. “We have established a close collaboration with the Zhang lab in finding anticancer drugs and elucidating the mechanisms of the targeted therapy for breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in the United States,” Wu said.

Provided by North Dakota State University

A new study shows for the first time how a compound in green tea might work to suppress lung cancer. A compound found in green tea, called EGCG, was already known to have anti-cancer properties. But researchers are still trying to figure out all the ways EGCG acts to suppress tumor growth. The new study found EGCG raises levels of a molecule called mi-R210 inside lung cancer cells.

Cancer cells with higher levels of mi-R210 multiplied more slowly than lung cancer cells with lower levels, the study showed. In addition, cells with high mi-R210 levels lost the ability to grow on top of each other, a hallmark of cancer cells. The study was conducted in cells in a dish, and more research is needed to determine if the same thing happens to cells inside the body.

Many laboratory studies suggest green tea may protect against cancer or slow cancer growth, but studies in humans have had mixed results, according to the National Institutes of Health. Cancer rates tend to be lower in countries, such as Japan, where people drink more green tea, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMM).

A 2010 Taiwanese study examined the smoking and tea drinking habits of more than 500 people, and found that the risk of lung cancer was 5 times higher in those who did not drink green tea. Among smokers, the risk was 12 times higher.

However, other studies have found drinking green tea or black tea increases the risk of lung cancer, UMM says.

The new study was published Sept. 28 in the journal Carcinogenesis.

Pass it on: A compound in green tea called EGCG may work to suppress lung cancer cell growth by increasing levels of mi-R210.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/10/10/how-green-tea-may-thwart-lung-cancer-247062392/#ixzz1bD0qPaUS

Once a product starts to get credit for doing everything, there is a chance you may be in the crackpot zone.  If so, look for the downfall of green tea in 2012 because a new study says the Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) in green tea prevents weight gain.  Add that on to claims that EGCG prevents arthritis, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and breast cancer and even slows AIDS.

But if it works, it works.  Obese mice that were fed a compound found in green tea along with a high-fat diet gained weight significantly more slowly than a control group of mice that did not receive the green tea supplement, said Joshua Lambert, assistant professor of food science in agricultural sciences at Penn State.

The researchers fed two groups of mice a high-fat diet. Mice that were fed EGCG along with a high-fat diet, gained weight 45 percent more slowly than the control group of mice eating the same diet without EGCG. In addition to lower weight gain, the mice fed the green tea supplement showed a nearly 30 percent increase in fecal lipids, suggesting that the EGCG was limiting fat absorption, according to Lambert.  Note that they were consuming the EGCG in about 10 cups of green tea, so you really need to like the stuff.

“There seems to be two prongs to this,” said Lambert. “First, EGCG reduces the ability to absorb fat and, second, it enhances the ability to use fat.”

The green tea did not appear to suppress appetite. Both groups of mice were fed the same amount of high-fat food and could eat at any time.

“There’s no difference in the amount of food the mice are eating,” said Lambert. “The mice are essentially eating a milkshake, except one group is eating a milkshake with green tea.”

Lambert, who worked with Kimberly Grove and Sudathip Sae-tan, both graduate students in food science, and Mary Kennett, professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences, said that other experiments have shown that lean mice did not gain as much weight when green tea is added to a high fat diet. However, he said that studying mice that are already overweight is more relevant to humans because people often consider dietary changes only when they notice problems associated with obesity.

“Most people hit middle age and notice a paunch; then you decide to eat less, exercise and add green tea supplement,” said Lambert.

Study published in Obesity.

There has never been a better time to go green, according to a team of US food scientists who say that green tea may slow weight gain and has the potential to play an integral role in the battle against obesity.

Publishing their findings in online journal Obesity, researchers from Pennsylvania State University found that a control group of obese mice who were fed Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) – a compound found in most green teas – in addition to a high-fat diet gained weight 44 per cent slower than their counterparts who were fed the same diet without the compound.

“Our work suggests that EGCG inhibits an enzyme called pancreatic lipase (PL), which is secreted into the intestine when you eat and is the most important enzyme for the digestion of dietary fat,” explains study author Joshua Lambert, assistant professor of food science at Pennsylvania State University. “EGCG, in the test tube, inhibits this enzyme at relatively low concentrations. Definitely concentrations that are achieved in the intestine when you drink a cup or two of tea.”

“We think this mechanism is relevant in animals, and probably in people, because mice treated with EGCG have elevated faecal fat content,” he adds. “To us, this suggests that the fat is not being digested, and is instead passing through the intestine and into the faeces. One pertinent point is the PL is the target for Orlistat [Australian trade name Xenical], a clinically used drug for weight loss.”

The findings support earlier research undertaken at the Department of Human Biology, Nutrition and Toxicology Research Institute at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. Scientists there conducted a meta-analysis of multiple studies on the effects of green tea on weight loss and weight maintenance in humans and concluded that its consumption “significantly decreased body weight and significantly maintained body weight” after a period of weight loss.

“It has only been scientifically evaluated in the past 11 years, and it is thought that the combination of EGCG and caffeine are responsible for the weight loss,” says Teresa Mitchell-Paterson, Head of Academic Studies (Natural Therapies) at the Australasian College of Natural Therapies. “However the consumption of caffeine alone does not give the same fat-loss benefit.”

Extrapolating from the mice study, Lambert says a human being would have to drink 10 cups of green tea per day to ingest a dose of EGCG equivalent to that given to the mice, but further research is required to establish a more effective dose, and what the magnitude of the effect actually is.

It’s advised that those with heart conditions or major cardiovascular problems strictly limit their intake of caffeine, while pregnant and breast-feeding women should drink no more than one-to-two cups of green tea per day, since it can cause an increase in heart rhythm. Given these concerns, Mitchell-Paterson says a more pragmatic approach might be suitable for everyone.

“Studies suggest that approximately 150mgs of green tea is needed to gain a therapeutic effect, which is approximately three-to-four cups daily,” she says. “Dosage must be kept to three-to-four cups per day due to the caffeine content of green tea, [and] there is no data regarding toxicity of long term use.”

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/green-tea-inhibits-weight-gain-study-20111007-1lcs4.html#ixzz1akuZ5VIx

By Samara Felesky-Hunt, For The Calgary Herald

Green tea is a popular source of polyphenols, with health benefits if about three cups daily are consumed (at least 240 to 300 milligrams). To achieve some degree of protection, nutrition and health experts recommend you drink two to three cups a day. Polyphenols are potent antioxidant compounds that have demonstrated greater antioxidant protection than vitamin C.

Research suggests that polyphenols provide cancer-protective properties by blocking the formation of cancer-causing compounds, suppressing the activation of carcinogens and effectively detoxifying cancer-causing agents, as well as reducing the inflammation associated with cancer and other diseases.

Numerous studies show that polyphenols reduce the risk of cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, including cancers of the stomach and colon, lungs, prostate and breast. Polyphenols may also improve a woman’s prognosis once she’s diagnosed with breast cancer by lowering the risk of the cancer coming back by 46 per cent.

How much do I need?

Green tea is a popular source of polyphenols, with health benefits if about three cups daily are consumed (at least 240 to 300 milligrams). To achieve some degree of protection, nutrition and health experts recommend you drink two to three cups a day.

Studies suggest hot, brewed green tea is better than the cold variety as adding ice dilutes the tea. As tea cools, the polyphenols and caffeine may bond and sink to the cup’s bottom where you are less likely to consume them.

Instant tea has a very low amount of polyphenols.

Tea also contains 50 to 100 mg of caffeine. Overconsumption may produce nervousness, anxiety, insomnia and irritability. Look for varieties that use water to decaffeinate the leaves rather than a solvent such as ethyl acetate, which lowers antioxidant content up to 70 per cent.

Avoid milk in your tea, as research suggests that it interferes with polyphenol absorption.

On the other hand, adding lemon or other citrus fruits to tea increases the bioavailability of green tea’s antioxidants.

Green and white teas require water that is hot but cooler than boiling, since hotter temperatures may affect their flavour. Steep tea for one to three minutes to absorb polyphenols, but not so long that it tastes bitter.

Where do I find it?

Both green tea and black tea come from the same plant. Green tea is produced by lightly steaming the fresh-cut leaf. The colour of a tea actually depends on its processing method, particularly on how much oxidation it undergoes during production.

As a rule, the less oxidized a tea, the lighter colour it is and the more antioxidant compounds it contains. Green tea therefore has higher antioxidant levels than black tea.

The major polyphenols in green tea are flavonoids (catechin, epicatechin gallate (EGCG) and proanthocyanidins). When selecting commercial green tea and extracts, look for the highest level of EGCGs and total polyphenol content.

Find varieties with whole tea leaves, as they have more surface area for hot water to extract the flavour and the antioxidants in the leaf. For green tea, look for matcha and sencha varieties, as they tend to have the highest antioxidant values.

Green tea extracts and other food products containing green tea are available, but typically do not have the same health benefi ts as the beverage.

Do-it-yourself decaf green tea

This will remove nearly 80 per cent of the tea’s caffeine, while retaining its flavour and the majority of its polyphenols.

- Steep tea in hot water for about 30 seconds. Since caffeine is water soluble, most of it will be released into the water.

- Discard this liquid and save the tea leaves.

- Add fresh hot water to tea leaves and steep as usual.

- Samara Felesky-Hunt is a registered dietitian at the Downtown Sports Clinics in Calgary. Her column appears weekly and she can be reached at dietitian-online.com.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Good+reasons+drink+green/3391376/story.html#ixzz0xOqmF5Cc

CCA Industries, MetaboLife and Mason Vitamins claim their supplements can help fight weight gain. But while green tea has been shown to speed metabolism, its effects on weight don’t yet pan out.

Like all industries, the herbal weight-loss business moves in cycles. Less than a decade ago, the stimulant herb ephedra was one of the stars of the scene. It sped up metabolism and weight loss, but it also raised the heart rate and, in some cases, caused strokes and heart attacks.

The Food and Drug Administration banned ephedra supplements in 2004, setting off an industrywide scramble to find another herb that could take its place. For now, the winner seems to be green tea. Its reputation as a healthful, revitalizing beverage goes back thousands of years, and it has recently started showing up in a wide range of weight-loss supplements.

Green tea naturally contains caffeine, a common ingredient in all sorts of weight-loss products. It also contains EGCG, a strong antioxidant that seems to encourage cells throughout the body to burn extra calories. In other words, it seems to be “thermogenic,” a term that tends to get people in the weight-loss business very excited.
The Mega-T Green Tea Dietary Supplement from CCA Industries is sold at drugstores everywhere. Each caplet contains enough green tea extract to provide 90 milligrams of EGCG and 50 mg. of caffeine. The caplets also contain chromium, calcium, Hoodia gordonii cactus and (in one version) acai fruit, among other things. Users are instructed to take one caplet twice a day with a meal and a glass of water. A package of 90 caplets costs about $16.

Metabolife — a former leader in the ephedra market that filed for bankruptcy in 2005 amid a series of legal problems — is back in the weight-loss game with Metabolife Green Tea. According to its label, the supplement contains a “proprietary blend” that includes green tea, garcinia (a source of hydroxycitric acid) and guarana (a source of extra caffeine). The label doesn’t specify how much green tea, caffeine or EGCG is in each tablet. Users are told to take two or three capsules a day about an hour before meals. A bottle of 90 capsules costs about $25.

Each tablet of Green Tea Slim from Mason Vitamins contains 60 mg. of EGCG along with chromium and apple cider vinegar, among other ingredients. Users are instructed to take one tablet two or three times a day with meals. A bottle of 60 tablets costs about $6.

CCA Industries, MetaboLife and Mason Vitamins all declined the chance to comment on their products.

The claims

The label for Mega-T Green Tea Dietary Supplement says that users can “lose up to 20 pounds.” The package clarifies with an asterisked note that such results would occur “over a period of time with diet and exercise plan.” According to the site, the supplement is “formulated to help you achieve your weight loss goals.”

The Metabolife website says that the supplement “helps boost the body’s metabolism, making it easier to burn unwanted calories.”

The label for Green Tea Slim says the supplement “fights cravings and enhances metabolism” while promoting “thermogenic action.”

The bottom line

Green tea really does seem to speed up metabolism, but recent studies show that the resulting weight loss is modest, bordering on trivial, says Craig Coleman, associate professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. “It sounds like it should work, but when the rubber hits the road in clinical trials, it doesn’t really pan out.”

Coleman co-authored a 2009 review of 15 studies on green tea and weight loss. On average, subjects who consumed green tea products lost an extra 1 to 3 pounds compared with those who took a placebo. Study participants generally consumed 300 mg. or more of EGCG every day, and the length of the studies ranged from three to 24 weeks. Because of such meager results, Coleman says, he “would not recommend patients take green tea extract in any form for weight loss.”

But even modest weight loss can be a positive step, says Arpita Basu, assistant professor of nutritional sciences at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Basu was the lead author of a 2010 study of 35 obese people who consumed either 4 cups of strong green tea, two capsules of green tea extract (totaling 460 mg. of EGCG) or two placebo pills every day for eight weeks.

Subjects drinking green tea or taking green tea supplements lost an extra 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms) and 4.9 pounds (1.9 kg.), respectively, compared with the subjects who didn’t consume any green tea. Reporting in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, the researchers speculated that the weight-reducing power of green tea might be especially strong in people who are already obese.

Nobody should count on green tea alone to help them reach a healthy weight, but it could be a helpful part of a more comprehensive weight-loss program that includes diet and exercise, Basu says. Even if it didn’t help shed a single pound, the antioxidants in green tea might help lower the risk of heart disease, she adds.

Basu is leery of products that pack all sorts of other active ingredients along with green tea, though. Instead, she suggests that people just brew a cup of fresh

Drinking green tea may offer some protection against lung cancer, say experts who studied the disease at a medical university in Taiwan. The latest work in more than 500 people adds to growing evidence suggesting the beverage has anti-cancer powers. In the study, smokers and non-smokers who drank at least a cup a day cut their lung cancer risk significantly, a US cancer research conference heard.

The protection was greatest for people carrying certain genes. But cancer experts said the findings did not change the fact that smoking is bad for health.

Green tea is made from the dried leaves of the Asian plant Camellia sinesis and is drunk widely across Asia. The rates of many cancers are much lower in Asia than other parts of the world, which has led some to link the two. Laboratory studies have shown that extracts from green tea, called polyphenols, can stop cancer cells from growing. But results from human studies have been mixed. Some have shown a protective effect while others have failed to find any evidence of protection.

In July 2009, the Oxford-based research group Cochrane published a review of 51 studies on green tea and cancer which included over 1.5 million people. They concluded that while green tea is safe to drink in moderation, the research so far is conflicting about whether or not it can prevent certain cancers.

Dr I-Hsin Lin, of Shan Medical University, found that among smokers and non-smokers, people who did not drink green tea were more than five times as likely to get lung cancer than those who drank at least one cup of green tea a day.

Among smokers, those who did not drink green tea at all were more than 12 times as likely to develop lung cancer than those who drank at least a cup a day. Researchers then analysed the DNA of people in the study and found certain genes appeared to play a role in the risk reduction.

Green tea drinkers, whether smokers or non smokers, with certain types of a gene called IGF1, were far less likely to develop lung cancer than other green tea drinkers with different types of this gene. Yinka Ebo, of Cancer Research UK, said the findings should not be used as an excuse to keep smoking.

“Smoking tobacco fills your lungs with around 80 cancer-causing chemicals. Drinking green tea is not going to compensate for that. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to make up for the harm caused by smoking by doing other things right like eating a healthy, balanced diet. The best thing a smoker can do to reduce their risk of lung cancer, and more than a dozen other cancer types, is to quit.”

In previous research, consumption of coffee, both caffeinated and decaffeinated, and tea has been linked with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Now, according to a meta-analysis published in the December 2009 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, a high intake of coffee or tea is associated with a reduced risk of diabetes.

Investigators from the University of Sydney in Australia and their colleagues searched for relevant studies regarding the association between coffee, decaffeinated coffee, or tea and diabetes between 1966 and July 2009. They identified 18 studies reporting on the association between coffee consumption and diabetes, which included information on nearly 458,000 participants. They also found 6 studies on the link between decaffeinated coffee and diabetes and 7 studies on the association between tea and diabetes. The investigators found that increased coffee consumption was linked to decreased diabetes risk, with every additional cup of coffee contributing to a 7 percent reduction in the excess risk of diabetes.

Similar significant inverse associations were observed with decaffeinated coffee and tea and risk of diabetes. While this meta-analysis suggests a protective effect of coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and tea against the risk of diabetes, these findings need to be validated in randomized clinical trials.

Researchers believe that the thousand-year old drink, green tea, may be contain certain compounds useful in treating head and neck cancers. There will be almost 48,000 Americans diagnosed with some form of head and neck cancer this year, and head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world. Although the research is in its early stages, Emory University researchers note that lab results have shown that an extract from green tea in combination with a current cancer drug can help inhibit certain precancer cells that cause the growth of tumors.

No word yet on whether green tea-flavored ice cream and candy have the same effect.

via !.

Elderly people who drink several cups of green tea a day were less likely to suffer from depression, probably due to a “feel good” chemical found in this type of tea, Japanese researchers said. Several studies have linked drinking green tea to lessening psychological problems and Dr Kaijun Niu, of Tohoku University Graduate School, and colleagues found men and women aged 70 and older who drank four or more cups of green tea daily were 44 per cent less likely to have symptoms of depression.

Green tea is widely consumed in many Asian countries, including China and Japan. Dr Niu and the team investigated 1058 relatively healthy elderly men and women. About 34 per cent of the men and 39 per cent of the women had symptoms of depression, according to the study that was published in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. A total of 488 participants said they drank four or more cups of green tea a day, 284 said they downed two to three cups daily and the rest reported having one or fewer cups daily.

According to the researchers, the apparent effect of drinking more green tea on alleviating symptoms of depression did not fade after they factored in social and economic status, gender, diet, history of medical problems and use of antidepressants. By contrast, there was no association between consumption of black or oolong tea, or coffee, and lower symptoms of depression.

A green tea component, the amino acid theanine, which is thought to have a tranquillising effect on the brain, may explain the “potentially beneficial effect” shown in the current study, Dr Niu noted. However, further studies were needed to confirm whether greater green tea intake actually had antidepressant effects, the researchers said.

Scientists at Boston Biomedical Research Institute (BBRI) and the University of Pennsylvania have found that combining two chemicals, one of which is the green tea component EGCG, can prevent and destroy a variety of protein structures known as amyloids. Amyloids are the primary culprits in fatal brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s diseases. Their study, published in the current issue of Nature Chemical Biology (December 2009), may ultimately contribute to future therapies for these diseases.

“These findings are significant because it is the first time a combination of specific chemicals has successfully destroyed diverse forms of amyloids at the same time,” says Dr. Martin Duennwald of BBRI, who co-led the study with Dr. James Shorter of University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

For decades a major goal of neurological research has been finding a way to prevent the formation of and to break up and destroy amyloid plaques in the brains and nervous systems of people with Alzheimer’s and other degenerative diseases before they wreak havoc.

Amyloid plaques are tightly packed sheets of proteins that infiltrate the brain. These plaques, which are stable and seemingly impenetrable, fill nerve cells or wrap around brain tissues and eventually (as in the case of Alzheimer’s) suffocate vital neurons or brain cells, causing loss of memory, language, motor function and eventually premature death.

To date, researchers have had no success in destroying plaques in the human brain and only minimal success in the laboratory. One reason for these difficulties in finding compounds that can dissolve amyloids is their immense stability and their complex composition.

Yet, Duennwald experienced success in previous studies when he exposed amyloids in living yeast cells to EGCG. Furthermore, he and his collaborators also found before that DAPH-12, too, inhibits amyloid production in yeast.

In their new study, the team decided to look in more detail at the impact of these two chemicals on the production of different amyloids produced by the yeast amyloid protein known as PSI+. They chose this yeast amyloid protein because it has been studied extensively in the past, and because it produces varieties of amyloid structures that are prototypes of those found in the damaged human brain. Thus, PSI+ amyloids are excellent experimental paradigms to study basic properties of all amyloid proteins.

The team’s first step was to expose two different amyloid structures produced by yeast (e.g., a weak version and a strong version) to EGCG. They found that the EGCG effectively dissolved the amyloids in the weaker version. To their surprise, they found that the stronger amyloids were not dissolved and that some transformed to even stronger versions after exposure to EGCG.

The team then exposed the yeast amyloid structures to a combination of the EGCG and the DAPH-12 and found that all of the amyloid structures broke apart and dissolved.

The next steps for the research team will be to explore the mechanism and potency of such a combinatorial therapy for the treatment of diverse neurodegenerative diseases.

“Our findings are certainly preliminary and we need further work to fully comprehend the effects of EGCG in combination with other chemicals on amyloids. Yet, we see our study as a very exciting initial step towards combinatorial therapies for the treatment of amyloid-based diseases,” says Duennwald.

Authors of the study include: Martin L Duennwald and Chan Chung from Boston Biomedical Research Institute and Nicholas P Lopreiato, Elizabeth A Sweeny, M Noelle Knight, James Shorter, Huan Wang, and Blake E Roberts from the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Want to live a long and healthy life? Make sure that you drink at least eight cups of tea everyday, says a new study.

Researchers have found that the caffeine contained in drinks can lower the risk of heart attack and stroke, and improve the brain power of drinkers by making them feel more alert and cheerful, the London ‘Daily Mail’ reported.

Lead author Dr Carrie Ruxton, a nutrition expert, said her work “debunked” some of the myths around caffeinated drinks like tea, coffee and cocoa.

She compared the results of 47 independent studies to reach her conclusions and found that the caffeine contained in drinks can lead to a lower risk of heart attack and stroke, as well as making drinkers feel more alert and cheerful.

She said the optimum caffeine intake for an adult was 400 mg a day, equivalent to eight cups of tea or four coffee.

A Houston, Texas woman shares her secrets of longevity, and she’s an expert on the subject. Juanita Black just turned 105. Her love of green tea has brought her an unexpected bonus.

“I don’t drink coffee or anything,” says Black. “I drink green tea. I love it!”

During a news report at her birthday in October, Black shared tales of her youthful spirit, even her birthday trip to a local strip club. She was adamant that drinking green tea aided her long life. The tales made the rounds coast to coast, from CNN to Perez Hilton.

Black caught the attention of Judah Sanders, the CEO of Dragon Pearl Whole Teas, a California company of about 100 miles noth of Santa Barbara, which grows tea organically without pesticides or chemicals.

Sanders flew in to serve hot tea to Juanita in the same tradition as great emporers would receive more than a thousand years ago.

“You inspire me,” Sanders told Black.

“When we saw that she was loving green tea,” Sanders said, “We thought we need to be a part of this. We need to give her some tea and get her going with the very best tea.”

Black and her granddaughter Amy are enjoying the royal treatment.

“All my friends drink green tea because she’s 105 and she’s told us the trick,” Amy said.

“We wanted her to live to 110 or 115,” said Sanders, “And this is the way you’re going to do it by having very clean very pure tea.”

The owners of Dragon Pearl say they plan to keep supplying Black with all the green tea she can drink. As you can imagine, she says she’s very happy about the news.

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So you know that green tea is great for your body, but it may also be a great brew for your brain.

Over the years, studies have linked the consumption of green tea to a lower probability of developing heart disease and certain types of cancer. It has been associated with increased weight loss when on a diet. And it is said to fight inflammation and support cell rejuvenation.

In a recent study, researchers also found that older people who drank at least 2 cups of green tea per day were nearly 50% less likely to develop cognitive impairment compared to the people who drank 3 or few cups per week.

To get the most from your green tea, preparation is all-important, says Dr. Oz. While black and herbal teas can be prepared with boiling water and steeped for 4 to 6 minutes, green tea should be prepared with cooler water and steeped for 2 to 3 minutes for optimal flavor. Specifically, use water that has been taken off the boil for about a minute to encourage the best extraction.

Then, drink and ponder the benefits.

By JENNY HOPE

Women who drink three cups of tea a day may be protecting themselves against heart attacks and strokes.  They are less likely to have plaques – dangerous build-ups of fat and cholesterol – in their arteries, researchers found. Only around one third of women who drank three or more cups of tea a day had plaques in a neck artery, compared with almost half of those who drank no tea.

However, the French study appeared to show that men who were regular tea-drinkers did not reap the same health benefits.

Researchers examined 2,613 men and 3,984 women with an average age of 73, measuring the level of plaque in their carotid artery using ultrasound.

Carotid plaque was found in 45 per cent of women who were not tea-drinkers, in 42.5 per cent of women who drank one or two cups of tea daily and in only 33.7 per cent of those reporting drinking three or more cups a day.

Even women with high blood pressure appeared to gain protection from tea, found the study by Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, based in Paris and Lille.

The report said it was unclear why men did not benefit from tea-drinking in terms of lessening plaque build-up.

One theory is that tea might in some way complement oestrogen, the female hormone which is believed to help protect women against heart problems.

Dr Catherine Hood, from the industry-backed Tea Advisory Panel, said: “Findings in dietary studies are often confounded by other factors such as presence of disease in those taking part and other lifestyle behaviours.

“However, in this study, findings did not depend on whether the women were smoking or not, whether or not they took hormone replacement therapy and whether or not they suffered from vascular disease.

“No significant interaction was found with level of education, or fruit and vegetable intake.”

Victoria Taylor, heart health dietician for the British Heart Foundation, said the findings, published in the medical journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, And Vascular Biology, are “good news for people who enjoy a regular cuppa” and called for further tests on the subject.

Almost 80 per cent of Britons are tea-drinkers, getting through an estimated 165million cups every day.

By Michael D. Shaw, Contributing Columnist – HealthNewsDigest.com

We’re all familiar with the beverage derived from the leaves and leaf buds of the plant Camellia sinensis. Black tea is fermented, in a process whereby the leaves are allowed to oxidize and develop deep flavors. While biological pigments known as flavonoids are present in all teas, those in black tea are considered to be more complex.

More than 4,000 flavonoids have been identified, and they have been found to impart beneficial effects on human health, including antiviral, anti-allergic, antiplatelet, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and antioxidant activities.

“The big class of chemicals in tea are flavonoids—a natural class of antioxidants that are found in many natural plant-derived foods,” explains Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, an internist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. “In American diets, black tea represents probably the single biggest source of flavonoids.”

Documented health benefits from black tea include:

• Enhanced immunity to flu virus. In a recent study, people who gargled with a black tea extract solution twice per day showed a higher immunity to flu virus compared to the control group.
• Better Bone Density. Statistics indicate that regular tea drinkers (ten years or more) have higher bone mineral density in their spines than non-tea drinkers.
• Heart attack prevention. In one study, people who drank a cup and a half of tea per day were almost 40% less likely to suffer a heart attack, compared to tea abstainers.
• Cutting risk of death after first heart attack. Drinking more than two cups of tea each day decreased the risk of death following a heart attack by 44 percent.
• Slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s. Studies suggest that tea inhibits the activity of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which breaks down the chemical messenger, or neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. Alzheimer’s is characterized by a drop in acetylcholine, and current pharmaceutical drugs are designed to counteract this effect.

Then, there’s the whole range of oral health matters…

“We have found that the [antioxidants] in black tea will suppress the growth of bacteria in the mouth that cause cavities and gum diseases,” says Christine Wu, professor of periodontics at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry. “These will inhibit or interfere with the attachment of bacteria to the tooth surface.”

While the anti-microbial properties of black tea have been known for some time, would you believe that it has recently been shown to be effective against the dreaded bacterium Bacillus anthracis—the cause of anthrax, a potentially fatal disease and feared bio-terrorism agent? Research published in the March, 2008 issue of Microbiologist says just that!

A joint American-Welsh team of scientists led by Professor Les Baillie of Cardiff University and Dr. Theresa Gallagher, Biodefense Institute, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, Baltimore, reports that English Breakfast tea has the potential to inhibit the activity of anthrax, so long as it is taken black.

“Tea works,” said Prof. Baillie, who bought his anti-bioterror materials from the local supermarket. “You can drink enough to have an effect. We found that special components in tea such as polyphenols have the ability to inhibit the activity of anthrax quite considerably.” Other research indicates that black tea also inhibits Botulinum toxin, the most potent natural occuring toxin, derived from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Baillie’s group is now testing the effects of tea on antibiotic resistant superbugs, as well.

That serious biodefense types are looking at natural therapies against anthrax and superbugs, reminds us once again of the adage that the Good Lord gave us all the medicines we would ever need in the world of plants.

Michael D. Shaw
Exec VP
Interscan Corporation

Drinking black tea could help prevent diabetes, according to new findings by scientists at Dundee University.
The researchers said black tea may have the potential to combat type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease. They believe certain constituents of tea could act as an insulin substitute.

In Scotland, it is believed more than 190,000 people have diabetes which develops when the body fails to make enough insulin. In Tayside alone, latest figures show a 90% increase in the incidence of diabetes in the last 9 years. The Dundee team, led by Dr Graham Rena, hopes to secure more funding to continue its investigation.

In collaboration with colleagues at the Scottish Crop Research Institute, the researchers discovered that several black tea constituents, known as theaflavins and thearubigins, mimicked insulin action.

“What we have found is that these constituents can mimic insulin action on proteins known as foxos,” Dr Rena said.

“Foxos have previously been shown to underlie associations between diet and health in a wide variety of organisms including mice, worms and fruit flies.

“The task now is to see whether we can translate these findings into something useful for human health.”

Experimental stage

Dr Rena stressed that further research was needed.

“People shouldn’t be rushing to drink masses of black tea thinking it will cure them of diabetes,” he said. “We are still some way from this leading to new treatments or dietary advice.

“Our research into tea compounds is at a preclinical, experimental stage and people with diabetes should continue to take their medicines as directed by their doctor.”

“However, there is definitely something interesting in the way these naturally occurring components of black tea may have a beneficial effect, both in terms of diabetes and our wider health.”

The results of the research appear in the current issue of the journal Aging Cell.

By Stephen Daniells

Drinking at least 23 cups of black tea a month, or about three-quarters of a cup a day, may slash the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by a whopping 71 per cent, suggests new research from Singapore.

The benefits of the beverage were not linked to the caffeine content, suggest the results of the study of 63,257 Chinese men and women published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative condition affecting movement and balance in more than one million Americans each year, a figure expected to rise due to ageing populations.

Green tea contains between 30 and 40 per cent of water-extractable polyphenols, while black tea (green tea that has been oxidized by fermentation) contains between 3 and 10 per cent. Oolong tea is semi-fermented tea and is somewhere between green and black tea.

The four primary polyphenols found in fresh tealeaves are epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin gallate (ECG), and epicatechin (EC).

Despite results from previous studies reporting that green tea may reduce the risk of Parkinson’s, the new study, reported no benefits among participants of the Singapore Chinese Health Study.

Lead author Louis Tan from Singapore’s National Neuroscience Institute states that data was collected through in-person interviews using structured questionnaires.

Over the course of the study, 57 incident cases of Parkinson’s disease were documented, and while caffeine was associated with a protective effect, reducing disease risk by 45 per cent, the benefits of black tea were not affected by caffeine content, wrote Tan and co-authors.

“Black tea, a caffeine-containing beverage, showed an inverse association with Parkinson’s disease risk that was not confounded by total caffeine intake or tobacco smoking,” wrote the authors.

“Ingredients of black tea other than caffeine appear to be responsible for the beverage’s inverse association with Parkinson’s disease,” they concluded.
Tea Advisory Panel welcomes the results

Commenting on the study, Dr Ann Walker, a member of The Tea Advisory Panel (TAP) said that the latest research study was great news for all UK ‘black tea’ drinkers.

“In the past there seems to have been more of a focus by scientists reviewing the health benefits of green tea,” she said.

She added that previous studies looking at tea drinking and Parkinson’s disease risk did not differentiate between black tea and green tea, while the protective effect of tea were attributed to the caffeine content.

“In the current study, however, the beneficial effect of black tea did not appear to be influenced by caffeine intake, indicating that ingredients other than caffeine are responsible for black tea’s protective effects,” said Dr. Walker.

“A key difference between black tea and green tea lies in the types and amounts of flavonoids. Green teas contain more of the simple flavonoids called catechins. But when black tea is made, the catechins undergo oxidation resulting in the generation of more complex varieties, called thearubigins and theaflavins.”

“The underlying mechanisms for this protective effect of black tea on Parkinson’s disease remains unclear until further research is done. But drinking even one cup of black tea per day could help to reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease,” she concluded.

Source: American Journal of Epidemiology

“Differential Effects of Black versus Green Tea on Risk of Parkinson’s Disease in the Singapore Chinese Health Study”
Authors: Louis C. Tan, W.-P. Koh, J.-M. Yuan, R. Wang, W.-L. Au, J.H. Tan, E.-K. Tan, M.C. Yu

By Valerie

Ok, so it’s past the middle of January. If, like me, making your New Year’s Resolution has not yet led to action (I knew I shouldn’t have picked “run six miles every morning, bake your own bread, and no more cyber-slacking on the job”), I have a suggestion for a resolution do-over that’s easy, cheap and surprisingly pleasurable: drink a cup of tea every day. But if you really want the health benefits of tea – and they are numerous – don’t add milk. Here’s why….

Milk Eliminates Cardiovascular Health Benefits Of Tea, Researchers Warn

Source: ScienceDaily

Research published online in the European Heart Journal has found that the protective effect that tea has on the cardiovascular system is totally wiped out by adding milk.

Tests on volunteers showed that black tea significantly improves the ability of the arteries to relax and expand, but adding milk completely blunts the effect. Supporting tests on rat aortas (aortic rings) and endothelial (lining) cells showed that tea relaxed the aortic rings by producing nitric oxide, which promotes dilation of blood vessels. But, again, adding milk blocked the effect.

The findings, by cardiologists and scientists from the Charité Hospital, Universitätsmedizin-Berlin, Germany, are bad news for tea-drinking nations like the British, who normally add milk to their beverage. The results have led the researchers to suggest that tea drinkers who customarily add milk should consider omitting it some of the time.

Their study showed that the culprit in milk is a group of proteins called caseins, which they found interacted with the tea to decrease the concentration of catechins in the beverage. Catechins are the flavonoids in tea that mainly contribute to its protection against cardiovascular disease.

Senior researcher Dr Verena Stangl, Professor of Cardiology (Molecular Atherosclerosis) at the hospital, said: “There is a broad body of evidence from experimental and clinical studies indicating that tea exerts antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and vasodilating effects, thereby protecting against cardiovascular diseases. As worldwide tea consumption is second only to that of water, its beneficial effects represent an important public health issue. But, up to now, it’s not been known whether adding milk to tea, as widely practised in the UK and some other countries, influences these protective properties. So, we decided to investigate the effects of tea, with and without milk, on endothelial function, because that is a sensitive indicator of what is happening to blood vessels.”

Sixteen healthy postmenopausal women drank either half a litre of freshly brewed black tea, black tea with 10% skimmed milk, or boiled water (as a control) on three separate occasions under the same conditions. The endothelial function of the brachial artery in the forearm was measured by high resolution ultrasound before and two hours after drinking, with measurements being taken every 15 seconds for up to two minutes a time.

Said first author Dr Mario Lorenz, a molecular biologist: “We found that, whereas drinking tea significantly increased the ability of the artery to relax and expand to accommodate increased blood flow compared with drinking water, the addition of milk completely prevents the biological effect. To extend our findings to a functional model, we determined vasodilation in rat aortic rings by exposing them to tea on its own and tea with individual milk proteins added, and got the same result.”

Milk contains a number of different proteins: by testing each one separately, the researchers found that it was the three caseins that accounted for the inhibiting effect, probably by forming complexes with tea catechins.

Said Dr Stangl: “The well-established benefits of tea have been described in many studies. Our results thus provide a possible explanation for the lack of beneficial effects of tea on the risk of heart disease in the UK, a country where milk is usually added.”

She said their findings could also have implications for cancer, against which tea has also been shown to be protective. “Since milk appears to modify the biological activities of tea ingredients, it is likely that the anti-tumour effects of tea could be affected as well. I think it is essential that we re-examine the association between tea consumption and cancer protection, to see if that is the case.”

Said Dr Lorenz: “It is important to bear in mind that green tea is almost exclusively drunk without milk. So we are talking only about those countries and regions where black tea is consumed and where milk is added. We certainly don’t want to dismiss the consumption of black tea: the results of our study merely attempt to encourage people to consider that, while the addition of milk may improve its taste, it may also lower its health-protective properties.”

Dr Stangl said that another important lesson from their research was that it was vital in nutritional studies to exclude confounding factors as far as possible. Often, the effects of a single nutritional compound or beverage such as red wine, olive oil and so on, are analysed. But, it is difficult to assign clearly the observed effects and separate them from the surrounding food matrix (such as adding milk) that may bias results. It was therefore important to collect all data accurately and include potentially confounding factors in the analysis.

She said that the team was now in the process of comparing the effects of green and black tea on vascular function. “It’s an ongoing question whether green tea, with its higher catechin content, is superior to black tea in regard to endothelial function. In addition, because of the antiatherogenic potential of tea ingredients, we want to investigate the effects of the ingredients on chronic cardiovascular processes such as the development of restenosis (re-narrowing of arteries) after catheter procedures.”

The European Heart Journal is an official journal of the European Society of Cardiology.

Girl power is alive and well – sort of. Spice Girl, Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham was seen drinking Pu-Erh tea which has led to a 25 percent increase in sales of the tea which is said to boost metabolism and therefore aid in weight loss.

Millions of Americans and people around the world are trying to find good healthy diet plans and programs for a healthy weight loss, especially after the New Year as part of their new years resolutions. A new book called The Ultimate Tea Diet is a presentable and fresh approach to dieting and weigh loss.

The Ultimate Tea Diet Book Description

Tea has been widely recognized for its amazing health benefits. It can help:

• Boost the immune system
• Lower blood sugar and cholesterol
• Prevent cavities and tooth decay
• Slow the aging process
• Decrease high blood pressure
• Prevent arthritis
• Sharpen mental focus and concentration
• Reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease, cancer, and more…

Now, it’s time for tea to be recognized, not only for all of these wonderful health benefits, but also for its ability to help tea drinkers lose weight as part of diet.

The Ultimate Tea Diet harnesses tea’s incredible weight-loss potential in a straightforward plan for losing weight in a safe and healthy way. Simply find a tea you love, drink it all day, follow an easy food plan, and see the pounds fall off.

Tea’s ability to encourage weight loss comes from the synergy of its three main ingredients: caffeine to stimulate, L-theanine to neutralize the harmful side effects of caffeine and act as an appetite suppressant, and EGCG, which causes you to burn fat faster and more efficiently. In other words, tea reduces your appetite and stimulates your metabolism.

Don’t worry–you won’t go hungry on the Ultimate Tea Diet. The food plan includes tasty tea-based meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as tempting choices for midday snacks and sweet treats. All are made deliciously with tea so not only is your food incredibly flavorful, but you’re also getting the health and weight-loss benefits in every single bite you enjoy.

Drinking tea–and maintaining a conscientious focus on good health–can easily become a way of life. Slim down to a leaner, more energetic, and healthier you with the Ultimate Tea Diet.

Featured Recipe from The Ultimate Tea Diet

Rosemary Orange Tea Chicken

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 oranges
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon of dried, plus fresh sprigs for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon finely ground green tea
• 1-1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Mix together the olive oil, juice of 1-1/2 oranges (set aside the other half0, pepper, salt, chopped rosemary, and dry tea. Pour this marinade into a large resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken, seal the bag and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat a grill pan or barbecue until hot. Remove chicken from the bag, discarding the remaining marinade, and grill until browned on both sides. Thinly slice the remaining orange half and serve with the chicken. Decorate with a sprig of rosemary.

Serves 4.

Nutrition Per Serving: calories 170, fat 2.5g, protein 28g, carb 8g

About the Author of The Ultimate Tea Diet

Mark “Dr. Tea” Ukra is prominently featured as a tea expert, historian, and representative of the contemporary movement of tea. Dr. Tea and his wife, Julie, and daughter, Lucky, live in Los Angeles, where they own dr. tea’s and are constantly spreading the good word about tea.