The next time you go to a Chinese restaurant, consider the fact that your good fortune is in your teacup, not in a cookie.
Once again, modern scientists have proven what ancient healers knew all along.
Tea, the beverage of choice for millions of people, is a powerful medicine that has prevented - and treated - illnesses and eased symptoms for thousands of years. Here's a list of some of the therapeutic benefits of tea:
* Protects against heart disease
* Reduces the risk of cancer, especially stomach, esophageal, lung and skin cancers
* Protects against and destroys harmful bacteria and viruses
* Lowers blood pressure
* Reduces atherosclerosis (or hardening of the arteries)
* Fights infections
* Relieves migraines
* Reduces cavities and gum disease
* Promotes weight loss
* Lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol
* Raises HDL (good) cholesterol
The answer is in the chemical properties that are contained in the tea leaf, namely polyphenols, flavonoids and catechins.
Green tea packs more of a protective punch than black tea. While black tea contains the same chemical compounds as green, the production process of the leaves reduces much of its healing properties, especially the polyphenols and flavonoids.
Green tea and cancer:There are numerous studies showing that green tea inhibits cancer. But just what is it in tea that makes it such a potent health tonic?
A simple cup of tea is loaded with the disease-fighting chemical polyphenol, a tough antioxidant that prevents the cell damage related to aging and life-threatening diseases, such as cancer and coronary heart disease.
The polyphenols effectively halt the production of the enzymes that produce the cancer-causing substances. One study discovered that the antioxidants found in green tea are even more potent than the antioxidants in vitamins E and C.
Esophageal cancer:According to Joseph McLaughlin, who did research at the National Cancer Institute, green tea is especially effetive in protecting against cancer of the esophagus, the tube that carries food from your throat to your stomach. Approximately 11,000 Americans will be diagnosed with this type of cancer each year.
Researchers who studied a group of people who smoke and drank alcohol confirmed that those who consumed approximately five cups of green tea a day reduced their risk of developing cancer by 20 percent in men and 50 percent in women.
And for those who neither smoke nor drink, the results were even more pronounced.
"For non-smokers and non-alcohol drinkers, the risk (of contracting esophageal cancer)for green tea drinkers was reduced by 57 percent in men and 60 percent in women," said McLaughlin in
A study done by researchers in Shanghai confirmed the study. The University of California at Berkeley reported on the findings of the Chinese study. When 1500 healthy subjects were compared to 902 people with esophageal cancer, those who drank green tea "appeared to be protected against this cancer."
Lung cancer:Another study in Japan showed that even though Japanese men smoke more than American men, they have lower rates of lung cancer. Their preference for green tea is the reason why, say researchers.
In recent animal studies, scientists found that drinking green tea cut the lung cancer rate in mice by 45 percent. Other animal studies found that drinking the beverage on a regular basis also reduced the rates of stomach and liver cancer. A two-year study in China found that people who drank green tea had a 30 percent lower risk of stomach cancer than non-drinkers.
Heart disease and blood pressure:Heart disease is the number one killer of American men and women. But a few cups of tea a day is good for the heart.
There are many doctors around the world who prescribe a cup of either green or black tea for heart patients who cannot tolerate the side effects of prescription medications.(Note: This research is provided for information only. Do not discontinue any heart medication without first consulting your doctor.)
Researchers at the University of California's Lawrence Livermore Labs wanted to find out why. According to Jean Carper in her book
The tea drinkers had two-thirds less coronary damage than the coffee drinkers. The researchers concluded that tea protects the aorta from forming deadly plaque.
A five-year Dutch study of more than 800 men, ages 65 to 84, found that those who drank two cups of tea a day cut their risk of heart attack and coronary damage by 68 percent.
Researchers discovered that these men consumed diets high in flavonoids and catechins-two of the main components of tea.
Flavonoids are antioxidants that are more powerful than vitamin E.
They even prevent the oxidation process that causes LDL (bad) cholesterol from building up on artery walls.
Tea catechins may be just as powerful an antioxidant as beta carotene and have a well-deserved reputation as a protector of the heart. Studies show they can lower blood pressure and control hemorrhaging by allowing the blood to coagulate or clot.
"Experiments show that these chemicals can lower blood pressure and hemorrhaging in animals and humans by activating blood coagulation," says
Carper.
Green tea and stroke:Skip your morning cup of coffee and enjoy a cup of green tea-it could save your life.
Recent studies in Japan of more than 9500 women confirm that those who drank fewer than five cups of green tea a day had twice the number of strokes than those women who drank more than five cups per day. The results were high salt intake, a factor linked to both high blood pressure and stroke.
Researchers ae not yet sure why this happens, although there are many theories currently being tested.
According to Dr. Yoshikazu Sata, a neurologist at the Tohoku Univeristy School of Medicine in Japan, it could be because green tea is allowed to ferment less than the black tea we're used to drinking in this country.
The longer a tea is fermented and baked, the more antioxidants it loses. And the antioxidants are what keep your veins healthy and therefore prevent stroke.
According to Jean Carper in The Food Pharmacy, these antioxidants, called catechins, have been shown in experiments to strengthen capillary walls and slow atherosclerosis.
Researchers at the American Medical Association revealed that it is the flavonoids-those immune-boosting properties found in many plants, including tea-that reduce the risk of stroke. A Dutch study found that men who drank five cups of tea a day reduced their risk of stroke 69 percent, compared with those who drank fewer than three cupos of the brew a day.
Fewer tests done by the AMA found that tea appears to act on LDL (bad) cholesterol.
"This keeps it from being metabolized in a way that would eventually clog the arteries and increase the risk of stroke," says Dr. Ralph Sacco of the Northern Manhattan Stroke Study at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York.
Skin cancer and wrinkles:Odly enough, recent studies also have confirmed that a diet of green tea also combats skin cancer. Scientists at the Skin Disease Research Center in Cleveland, OH, report that feeding green tea to mice or applying it directly to their skin prevented skin cancer caused by exposure to the sun.
When rats with benign skin tumors were fed the equivalent of four cups of tea a day, the chance of the tumors becoming malignant occured less often than in the rats who were not given the tea.
While testing ther properties of green tea for new makeup and skin-care development, researchers for a major cosmetics company discovered that adding tea to the diet of mice prone to skin cancer reduced their development of tumors by 40 percent while shrinking existing tumors.
Here's some good news for anyone who wants to look good while staying healthy: The same antioxidants that are good for your body are just as good for keeping wrinkles away.
Major cosmetic companies, such as Estee Lauder and Prescriptives, have begun adding green tea to their skincare lines.
Tooth decay and gum disease:A few cups of either green or black tea a day fights tooth decay. That's because tea is a good source of fluoride. In fact, tea contains more fluoride than fluorinated water, says a report published in the University of California, Berkeley, Wellness Letter.
Drinking tea for your teeth is especially beneficial for young children and the elderly. Kids need extra fluoride because their teeth are still developing and need extra protection on the tooth surface.
The elderly often develop cavities on the gum line where the gum has receded or deep inside the mout-places where toothbrushes often miss. A cup of warm tea puts the fluoride right where it's needed.
Research conducted in Japan studied the ability of green tea to reduce gum disease. They foound that in some patients, green tea completely cured the problem.
No matter which kind of tea you choose, drink it plain. Adding sugar or honey will cancel out the cavity fighting effects.
Tea and weight loss:Although most of the studies on tea have focused on its antioxidant, anti-cancer properties, there have also been major tests done on green tea and its ability to help a person lose weight.
And contrary to popular belief, it's not simply the caffeine in tea that makes it such a great diet aid. Those same polyphenols and catechins that help to keep a person healthy also promote fat burning and regulate blood sugar and insulin levels.
In his book Off the Shelf Natural Health, How To Use Herbs and Nutrients To Stay Well(Bantam, 1995), Mark Mayell discusses a study that showed the positive link between green tea and weight loss.
"One placebo-controlled study found that overweight women who completed their low-calorie diet by taking tea supplements lost three times more weight than those who didn't," said Dr. Mayell.
And more:Here's a hint for anyone who has ever suffered from the pain and embarrassment of a cold sore-use a black tea bag!
Let the bag stand in boiling water for approximately five minutes. Remove, cool and apply to the cold sore as you would a compress.
The research continues:Further studies into the healing benefits of green tea continue, and scientists are researching more and more ways it can heal and prevent disease.
Researchers are looking for more closely into the connection between tea and the liver. Some believe that green tea can help the liver eliminate toxins and wast products more eddiciently.
Other researchers have discovered that green ta is a powerful antibacterial, according to Dr. EArl Mindell in his book, What You Should Know about the Super Antioxidant Miracle(Keats, 1996).
"It powerfully protects against nearly all types of bacteria, including cholera, salmonella and typhoid. Unlike antibiotics, green tea is selective about what bacteria it kills," says Dr. Mindell, "leaving 'good' bacteria and going after those that cause damage."
How much tea should you drink:Replacing your morning cup of coffee with a cup of tea is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself.
In fact, substituting a lot of what you drink with tea, either hot or iced, is a good idea. That's because, to really maximize the health benefits, you need to drink a lot of tea-about 10 cups a day. If caffeine is a problem, both black and green teas are sold decaffeinated. Check your health-food store if you can't find what you want in the supermarket.
If drinking the beverage isn't your "cup of tea," green tea is available in capsule form at most health food stores.
