Archive for category Tea Health Benefits

How Green Tea May Thwart Lung Cancer

Fox News, Oct 10 2011

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).

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EGCG: Green Tea May Help Lose Weight Too

Science 2.0, October 14th 2011:

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.

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Green tea inhibits weight gain: study

Sydney Morning Herald, Luke Malone, Oct 7 2011

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.”

The study also proposes that it could provide a cheap alternative to clinical weight-loss drugs, proving to be as effective while lacking the sometimes debilitating side effects. Though Lambert advocates drinking tea over the use of pills containing pure compounds, as human case studies have shown links between consumption of high doses of green tea-based dietary supplements and liver toxicity.

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Good reasons to drink green tea

Montreal Gazette

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.

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Green tea sets weight-loss industry abuzz

LA Times, The Healthy Skeptic

Green tea supplementsCCA 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.

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Green tea ‘may block lung cancer’

BBC News

Green tea

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.

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Coffee and Tea May Protect Against Diabetes

HealthandAge By June Chen, MD

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.

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Green tea challenges cancer to a duel

Holy Kaw

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.

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Green tea-drinkers less likely to suffer depression

Australia Herald Sun

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.

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Green Tea Chemical Combined With Another May Hold Promise for Treatment of Brain Disorders

Science crestor Dialy

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.

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