Tea and cancer

Tea is rich in a class of disease-fighting antioxidants called poly-phenol. Antioxidants neutralize molecules called free radicals, which can damage cells and tissues over time and contribute to chronic diseases such as cancer. Though no one knows the amount of antioxidants needed for a therapeutic effect, our analysis revealed that one eight ounce cup of green tea can have as much potency as a cup of blueberries, one of the best sources of antioxidants. Black and oolong tea can have similar amounts.

Studies have suggested a possible link between the consumption of fresh-brewed tea and a reduced risk of various cancers, including those of the stomach, skin, and breast. A study by cancer researchers from China and the United States, involving more than 18,000 Chinese, revealed that tea drinkers were about half as likely to develop stomach or esophageal cancers as nondrinkers. A University of Minnesota study tracking more than 35,000 Iowa women in 1996 showed that postmenopausal women who drank two or more cups of tea per day had 32 percent reduced risk of developing cancer of the digestive tract.

Between 1993 and 1998, researchers from the University of Arizona College of Medicine examined the habits of 450 tea drinkers, about half of whom had developed skin cancer. Both groups drank about the same amount of tea and had similar sun exposure, but the cancer-free group drank its tea hotter and stronger.

A 1999 report from Aichi Cancer Center, Japan, which tracked 1,100 breast-cancer patients in a decade, found evidence of a lower recurrence among women who drank tree or more cups of tea per day.

Studies also show that some men at high risk for developing prostate cancer may benefit from taking green tea tablets or the breast-cancer drug toremifebe (Acopodene).