(NaturalNews) Drinking at least a cup of green tea a day may significantly decrease a person's risk of lung cancer, according to a study conducted by researchers from Shan Medical University in Taiwan.
Cancer rates are significantly lower in Asia than in other parts of the world, and high consumption of green tea has been suggested as one of the potential explanations. Laboratory studies have suggested that the polyphenols in green tea can halt the growth of cancer cells, but the results of human studies have been mixed.
In the current study, researchers analyzed green tea consumption, smoking, genetic factors and lung cancer risk in more than 500 people. They found that among non-smokers, those who did not drink tea had five times the lung cancer risk of those who drank at least one cup per day. Among smokers, not drinking green tea was linked to 12 times the cancer risk of those who drank at least one cup per day.
A genetic analysis of all the study participants revealed that a specific variant of the gene known as IGF1 was associated with the correlation between higher tea consumption and lower cancer risk. Among those without this variant, green tea consumption had little effect on cancer risk. This could explain the inconsistent results of prior studies.
Health experts warned that whatever the benefits of green tea might be, they do not outweigh the danger posed by smoking.
"Smoking tobacco fills your lungs with around 80 cancer-causing chemicals," said Yinka Ebo of Cancer Research U.K. "Drinking green tea is not going to compensate for that. Unfortunately, it's not possible to make up for the harm caused by smoking by doing other things right like eating a healthy, balanced diet. The best thing a smoker can do to reduce their risk of lung cancer, and more than a dozen other cancer types, is to quit."
Sources for this story include: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8453628.stm.
Showing posts with label green tea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green tea. Show all posts
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Green Tea Extracts Halt Growth of Prostate Cancer Tumors
(NaturalNews) An extract made from one of the main antioxidants found in green tea may be able to slow the progression of prostate cancer, according to a study conducted by researchers from Louisiana state University and published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Researchers gave 26 prostate cancer patients between the ages of 41 and 68's four capsules of day of Polyphenon E, an extract of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) made by Polyphenon Pharma. EGCG is a powerful antioxidant to which many of the health benefits of green tea have been attributed. The dosage given to the participants in the study was equivalent to that acquired from drinking 12 cups of green tea per day.
After 12 weeks, the researchers found that levels of the prostate cancer markers Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prostate specific antigen (PSA) had fallen by an average of 18.9 percent, 9.9 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively, indicating a slowed progression of the disease.
PSA is a marker of inflammation, and indicates disease severity in prostate cancer patients. HGF and VEGF are both produced by prostate tumors as they spread to other parts of the body.
In some patients, HGF and VEGF levels fell as much as 30 percent upon treatment with the EGCG extract.
The researchers were cautiously optimistic about the study findings.
"It's still in an early stage," researcher Jim Cardelli said. "Green tea can keep cancer from growing very fast, but it may not be able to shrink tumors. But it can be a good addition to traditional therapies, like chemo (chemotherapy) or radiation."
Researchers do not know whether the same effects could be seen in other cancers, but the antioxidants in green tea have previously been linked to a reduced risk of a variety of cancers, skin and autoimmune conditions, cardiovascular disease and inflammation.
Sources for this story include: www.reuters.com.
Researchers gave 26 prostate cancer patients between the ages of 41 and 68's four capsules of day of Polyphenon E, an extract of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) made by Polyphenon Pharma. EGCG is a powerful antioxidant to which many of the health benefits of green tea have been attributed. The dosage given to the participants in the study was equivalent to that acquired from drinking 12 cups of green tea per day.
After 12 weeks, the researchers found that levels of the prostate cancer markers Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prostate specific antigen (PSA) had fallen by an average of 18.9 percent, 9.9 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively, indicating a slowed progression of the disease.
PSA is a marker of inflammation, and indicates disease severity in prostate cancer patients. HGF and VEGF are both produced by prostate tumors as they spread to other parts of the body.
In some patients, HGF and VEGF levels fell as much as 30 percent upon treatment with the EGCG extract.
The researchers were cautiously optimistic about the study findings.
"It's still in an early stage," researcher Jim Cardelli said. "Green tea can keep cancer from growing very fast, but it may not be able to shrink tumors. But it can be a good addition to traditional therapies, like chemo (chemotherapy) or radiation."
Researchers do not know whether the same effects could be seen in other cancers, but the antioxidants in green tea have previously been linked to a reduced risk of a variety of cancers, skin and autoimmune conditions, cardiovascular disease and inflammation.
Sources for this story include: www.reuters.com.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Green tea nutrients prevent and treat brain disorders
(NaturalNews) The December issue of Nature Chemical Biology contains a study that reveals the powerful effect of the green tea component EGCG in preventing and treating serious brain disorders like Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases. When combined with another isolated component, the elements therapeutically eliminate the protein amyloids which are thought to cause these brain diseases.
Amyloid plaques are tightly-bound protein sheets that make their way into the brain and occupy nerve cells. Sometimes they literally bind themselves around the brain tissue. Consequently, brain cells lose their oxygen source and begin to die, leading to memory and speech loss, diminished motor skills, and eventually death.
Researchers from Boston Biomedical Research Institute (BBRI) and the University of Pennsylvania discovered that two chemical components, one found in green tea, were able to break up the amyloid plaques and restore normal cell function in samples similar to what would be found in patients with brain disorders. The combination was found to be effective at eradicating all kinds of amyloids.
Representing the first time a specific set of chemical extracts has successfully destroyed protein amyloids, the research is breakthrough. Because amyloids are highly stable and incredibly complex, there have been no workable solutions to stopping their deadly impact on the central nervous system up until now.
Scientists are encouraged by the fact that such components have proven to be a viable treatment for serious degenerative brain disorders. They anticipate further research that will help to explain the mechanism behind the components that causes them to be so effective.
In reality, however, these amyloid plaques are merely symptoms of an underlying biochemical or energetic imbalance. Once you correct those imbalances, the plaques naturally go away. Correcting those imbalances, not surprisingly, involves radical alterations in diet as well as the complete avoidance of inflammatory, brain-damaging chemicals found in foods, medicines, personal care products and household items (like cleaning solvents).
Green tea really does work to help protect the brain from degenerative damage because it helps neutralize dangerous inflammatory chemicals before they can reach the brain and cause extensive damage. In this way, green tea indirectly helps prevent amyloid plaques, although that's really just a secondary side effect of green tea's primary protective functions.
Green tea, by the way, also helps prevent both breast cancers and prostate cancers. If you enjoy the benefits of green tea, try even more powerful superfoods such as spirulina, chlorella, blue-green algae or spirulina! They each work in different ways. I take them all, including green tea.
There is a very strong link, by the way, between the cognitive function of the population and the future of any given nation. When brains become clouded with disease, the future of the nation begins to erode as voters (and their representatives) make poor decisions. The Roman Empire was destroyed by lead poisoning, it is believed. America may one day find itself failing under the burden of widespread cognitive failure caused by junk foods, psychotropic drugs, toxic personal care products, plastics chemicals and environmental toxins.
By the way, this latest research proves that green tea is medicine. The FDA, however, maintains its ridiculous position that there is no such thing as herbal medicine, because any herb that has any positive impact on the human body is actually an "unapproved drug." So the FDA continues to pretend that green tea is inert.
Sources for this story include:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...
Amyloid plaques are tightly-bound protein sheets that make their way into the brain and occupy nerve cells. Sometimes they literally bind themselves around the brain tissue. Consequently, brain cells lose their oxygen source and begin to die, leading to memory and speech loss, diminished motor skills, and eventually death.
Researchers from Boston Biomedical Research Institute (BBRI) and the University of Pennsylvania discovered that two chemical components, one found in green tea, were able to break up the amyloid plaques and restore normal cell function in samples similar to what would be found in patients with brain disorders. The combination was found to be effective at eradicating all kinds of amyloids.
Representing the first time a specific set of chemical extracts has successfully destroyed protein amyloids, the research is breakthrough. Because amyloids are highly stable and incredibly complex, there have been no workable solutions to stopping their deadly impact on the central nervous system up until now.
Scientists are encouraged by the fact that such components have proven to be a viable treatment for serious degenerative brain disorders. They anticipate further research that will help to explain the mechanism behind the components that causes them to be so effective.
Comments by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
The "amyloid plaque" theory of brain diseases is actually a westernized, reductionist mythology that prefers physical explanations for degenerative disease.In reality, however, these amyloid plaques are merely symptoms of an underlying biochemical or energetic imbalance. Once you correct those imbalances, the plaques naturally go away. Correcting those imbalances, not surprisingly, involves radical alterations in diet as well as the complete avoidance of inflammatory, brain-damaging chemicals found in foods, medicines, personal care products and household items (like cleaning solvents).
Green tea really does work to help protect the brain from degenerative damage because it helps neutralize dangerous inflammatory chemicals before they can reach the brain and cause extensive damage. In this way, green tea indirectly helps prevent amyloid plaques, although that's really just a secondary side effect of green tea's primary protective functions.
Green tea, by the way, also helps prevent both breast cancers and prostate cancers. If you enjoy the benefits of green tea, try even more powerful superfoods such as spirulina, chlorella, blue-green algae or spirulina! They each work in different ways. I take them all, including green tea.
There is a very strong link, by the way, between the cognitive function of the population and the future of any given nation. When brains become clouded with disease, the future of the nation begins to erode as voters (and their representatives) make poor decisions. The Roman Empire was destroyed by lead poisoning, it is believed. America may one day find itself failing under the burden of widespread cognitive failure caused by junk foods, psychotropic drugs, toxic personal care products, plastics chemicals and environmental toxins.
By the way, this latest research proves that green tea is medicine. The FDA, however, maintains its ridiculous position that there is no such thing as herbal medicine, because any herb that has any positive impact on the human body is actually an "unapproved drug." So the FDA continues to pretend that green tea is inert.
Sources for this story include:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...
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