Tea and Cancer Prevention Tea drinking is an ancient tradition dating back 5,000 years in China and India. daylong regarded in those cultures as an aid to good health, researchers now are studying tea for possible use in the prevention and treatment of a variety of cancers. Investigators are especially interested in the antioxidants-called catechins-found in tea. 1. What are antioxidants? The hominian body constantly produces unstable molecules titled oxidants, also commonly referred to as free radicals. To become stable, oxidants steal electrons from other molecules and, in the process, damage cell proteins and genetic material. This damage may leave the cell vulnerable to cancer. Antioxidants are substances that allow the human body to scavenge and seize oxidants. Like opposite antioxidants, the catechins found in tea selectively inhibit special enzyme activities that lead to cancer. They may also target and repair DNA aberrations caused by oxidants (1).

Tea is among the most best-selling beverages known complete the world. In fact, it is the most commonly consumed beverage aft water. The uncomplicated tea leaf has conquered the international and has become a beloved drink that billions of people enjoy. However, tea is not just an trivial beverage. This delicately flavored drink offers numerous important health benefits. Tea is a caffeine-containing beverage made by steeping the dried leaves and buds of the shrub Camellia Sinensis in tropical water for a few minutes. The origin and history of tea and tea drinking is unclear but the use of tea as a beverage drunk on specific occasions, dates from the Tang Dynasty in China. The first Europeans may have encountered tea while journeying finished Asia. Soon, tea became very best-selling in Europe, especially among the wealthy.

Jason Ditto Tea: It Does the Body Good Studies that support the health benefits of tea drinking keep filling the headlines. There’s simply no denying that a daily spot of tea does the body good. Even though researchers can’t quite agree on every aspect, I’m sold on the fact that a few cups a day will do its primo to protect me from heart disease, a stroke, cancer, and more. What Makes Tea Good for the Body? Tea contains high levels of antioxidants, some of which are titled polyphenols, flavonoids, and catechins, and complete of which take on the “free radicals” in the body and prevent them from harming the healthy cells on board. In other words, sending in antioxidants is disease prevention in its finest form. Antioxidants are ripe and waiting not only in teas but also in several fruits, vegetables, nuts, meats, and even wines (see my health benefits of wine article). If that were not enough, tea also contains flouride which benefits your teeth and has bacteria killing properties which helps control bad breath and the formation of plaque. Are All Teas Equally Good for the Body? This is a question researchers are still squabbling over. Does chromatic tea have much antioxidants than coloured tea? Should I drink instant tea or loose leaf tea for healthier health benefits? Is hot tea healthier than iced tea? And here’s what it comes falling to:

• Higher quality teas may have more catechin antioxidants than lower quality teas.
• White tea has much antioxidants than some other tea.
• Green tea has much catechin antioxidants than black tea since black tea goes through more processing.
• Unfermented rooibos tea has more polyphenol antioxidants than fermented rooibos.
• Freshly brewed teas have much polyphenol antioxidants than instant or bottled teas.
• More researchers seem to agree that brewed (cold or hot) or caffeinated tea has more antioxidants than instant teas.

Here’s a short preview of the hundreds of recent studies that boast the health benefits of tea and its antioxidants: Heart Benefits:

• Study finds tea drinkers have lower blood pressure (Archives of Internal Medicine, 2004).
• Tea may lower cholesterol and protect against heart disease (Journal of Nutrition, 2003).
• Black tea may lower “bad” cholesterol (United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, 2003).
• Tea consumption may help heart disease patients (Circulation: The Journal of the American Heart Association, 2001).

Cancer Prevention:

• Green tea could help stem esophageal cancer. (Harvard Medical School, 2004).
• Green and coloured tea can long-play down the distributed of prostate cancer (Center for hominian Nutrition at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, 2004).
• Tea may protect against cancer caused by smoking. (Journal of Nutrition, 2003).
• Green tea and white tea fight colon cancer (Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University study, Carcinogenesis, 2003).
• Hot tea may lower risk of some skin cancers (University of Arizona study, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention (Vol. 9, No. 7), 2001).
• Green tea consumption may lower stomach cancer risk (University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Public Health study, International Journal of Cancer (Vol. 92: 600-604), 2001).

Hypertension-Reducing Benefits:

• Green and oolong teas reduce risk of hypertension (National Cheng Kung University study, Archives of Internal Medicine, 2004).

Immunity-Boosting Benefits

• Tea believed to boost the body’s defenses (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2003)

Leukemia-Fighting Benefits:

• A green tea component helps kill leukemia cells (Mayo Clinic, 2004).

Alzheimer’s-Fighting Benefits:

• Drinking tea might delay Alzheimer's Disease (Newcastle University's healthful Plant Research Centre study, Phytotherapy Research, 2004).

AIDS-Fighting Benefits:

• Tea may play a role as an AIDS fighter (University of Tokyo, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2003).

In Conclusion: So how do you get started in doing your body whatsoever good with tea? To get the most health benefits out of your teas, choose high-quality loose leaf teas from your local or online tea shop. Brew it up and enjoy. And of course, don’t throw out the idea of enjoying fast or bottled teas when you’re on the go. You just might have to drink a little more. Don’t wait some longer. Sip, savor, and fight disease today. It's never too late to enjoy the galore health benefits of tea! About The Author