Green Tea and Cancer

Green tea and cancer - Did you know that drinking a cup or two of green tea a day may reduce your risk of getting a cancer?

There are many theories regarding green tea and cancer as well as the effects of catechins in the body. These are the strongest and most remarkable powerful antioxidant found in green tea.

Most scientists believe that catechins in green tea have a tremendous effect in cancer. Among these are:

1) Green tea lowers the toxicity of certain carcinogens, thereby reducing their cancer-reducing potential.

2) Green tea interferes with the binding of cancer-causing substances to the DNA of healthy cells.

3) Green tea acts as antioxidants, protecting your body from free radical damage.

4) Green tea works together with antioxidants and enzymes in the small intestine, liver, and lungs to prevent tumors from starting.

5) Green tea inhibits tumor activation.

Green Tea and Cancer Comparison in the US and Japan

Green tea and cancer interest was further aroused by a comparison of the lung cancer rates in Japan to those of the United States. It seems that the Japanese smoked nearly twice as many cigarettes as Americans, but had only about half the amount of lung cancer.

One out of four of us will contact cancer, and one out of five of us will die from it.

Cancer is the biggest killer disease in America after heart disease. This killer can strike anyone and anytime. And most of the time, you don't even know it until it's too late.

Green Tea and Cancer Studies

Stomach Cancer - A case-controlled study of gastric cancer and diet in Northern Kyushu, Japan, found that people who drank 10 or more cups of green tea per day had a decreased risk of gastric cancer.

Pancreatic Cancer - A study found that among those who drank 2 or more cups of green tea per day, the risk of developing pancreatic cancer was almost 60% lower than those who did not drink tea.

Colon Cancer - A 1990 study published in the Japanese Journal of Cancer Research found that consumption of green tea lowered the risk of colon cancer.

Esophageal Cancer - Among non-smoking, non-alcohol-drinking participants who drank green tea, the males were 57% less likely and females 60% less likely to develop esophageal cancer than non-tea drinkers. (But drinking tea while it's burning hot reduced or eliminated its protective effect).