Cancer fighting green tea may have a dark side
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/40634/title/Cancer_fighting_green_tea_may_have_a_dark_side
For more than a decade, study after study has extolled the cancer-fighting virtues of green tea, or at least extracts of its polyphenol antioxidants. But preliminary data now suggest that for some people this herbal remedy may not prove beneficial — or even benign. In test-tube experiments on cancer cells and in animals, green tea’s polyphenols inactivated the cell-killing activity of a drug used to treat blood cancers.
Physicians prescribe bortezomib, a drug sold under the trade name Velcade, to patients with multiple myeloma. This treatable, though incurable,…
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/features/archive_of_editorial/615
Well, okay, we might be slightly overstating the benefits of tea, but not by as much as you’d think; science continues to reveal just how potent the beverage is. And popular: Last year marked the 13th consecutive year that tea sales increased, according to the Tea Association of the USA, which represents the industry.
This steady increase in tea consumption is likely linked to a slew of studies showing that drinking tea can significantly improve your health. Tea has been shown to slow tumor growth in cancers of the skin, lungs, mouth, esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, small intestine, colon and prostate, according to a review of multiple studies reported in the January 2005 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Other research demonstrates tea’s effect on heart health—a study in…
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/features/375
From chai-flavored cheesecake to tea-smoked tofu, with a scoop or two of green tea ice cream in between, cooking with tea is taking culinary circles by stealth.
“As drinking tea becomes more and more in vogue, chefs are turning to tea as a flavoring agent—the same way they started experimenting with coffee when the Starbucks phenomenon hit a few years back,” explains François Payard, owner of Payard Patisserie & Bistro in New York City, who has recently created a green tea tart and a collection of tea-flavored chocolates. “Tea is something that has always gone well with food, so it’s only natural that chefs are turning to it for its flavoring possibilities and using it in the same way they use herbs and …
Filed under Health Benefits of Tea, Tea by on Feb 6th, 2009. 
Looks like the Experimental Biology 2008 conference liked tea studies yesterday. Findings were presented on two different studies having to do with tea according to our sources. And the conference isn’t over yet.
The findings of one tea study that were presented showed that the antioxidant EGCG, or epigallocatechin-3-gallate, found in green tea significantly slowed the growth of breast cancer tumors in mice. There were two groups of mice with one given plain water and the other group given a EGCG solution. The mice were then injected with breast cancer cells which were left to do their thing.
When the study ended the tumors were sized, weighed and the density and VEGF protein levels measured. The EGCG group had tumors that were 66% smaller and 68% less in weight than the control group. The tumors of the EGCG group also had smaller blood vessels and lower VEGF protein levels leading researchers to speculate that this might be the benefit of the green tea antioxidant – less blood vessel growth and the slowing of the growth of the cancer cells themselves.
The other study’s findings that were presented were a bit more complex, at least in the writing of the findings. The results are from a study by a graduate student at Ohio State University about the effect of digestion on the anti cancer ability, against digestive system cancers, of the catechins in tea. He tested extracts of green tea, black tea and also just the catechins combination EGCG and EGC which are the most active ones found in tea.
For the green tea and the catechin extracts, digestion affected and “significantly reduced” the anti cancer affect as compared to the effect of undigested extracts. However, black tea came shining through showing the same amount of anti cancer effect.
The study also found that the extracts were more effective on colon cancer cells than on gastric cancer cells by twice as much (that’s if I did my math right).
Four results were listed at our source as to what this study could show. Mostly what it shows is that more studies and experimentation will be needed. Some of this information could lead to better formulations of products meant to help combat cancer. It could also help us learn just how best to drink our tea as well. After all, black tea extracts showed no degradation due to digestion.
Whatever will be the bottom line coming out of all these different health studies with tea, what I get is that drinking your favorite tea is a “very good thing.”
Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/news/20080407/green-tea-ingredient-slows-breast-cancer
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407172713.htm
Filed under Tea by on Apr 8th, 2008.
Let’s hope you are in one of the lucky 13 states and two Canadian provinces that now have access to a very potent green tea. It is the DoMatcha Japanese Green Tea and comes from an 800 year old recipe concocted by Zen monks. That means from the 13th century.
Laboratory testing shows this green tea delivers as many antioxidants, in one cup, as you would find in eight to ten cups of regular green tea. Wonder what they are calling “regular steeped green tea”? However, matcha tea helps prevent infectious and cardio-vascular diseases, increase serotonin, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, and even raises the metabolism which just might help you lose weight.
So, if you are in California, Washington State, Oregon, Nevada, Alabama, Arizona, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, or Hawaii, you might want to run out to your local Whole Foods Market and get yourself some DoMatcha Japanese matcha tea. That is, you might want to run if you are interested in improving your health. Otherwise, you could just walk or drive and then enjoy a soothing cup of hot tea once you get home.
Source: http://www.mmdnewswire.com/jpnese-te-3007.html
Filed under Tea by on Feb 28th, 2008.