Does Tea help Prevent Cancer?
Researchers believe that tea works to prevent cancer in three ways: First, antioxidants
stop free radicals from damaging healthy cells and tissue, which stops cancer before it starts. Second, polyphenols prevent damaged
cells from metastasizing (multiplying and spreading), which slows cancer development. And third, certain polyphenols may even destroy
cancer cells—a process called apoptosis—without harming the surrounding healthy cells and may halt tumor growth. “In other words,
what we’re finding is that substances in tea not only help prevent cancer but also help eliminate any tumor cells that do arise” explains
Mukthar, a professor of investigative dermatology at the
several powerful antioxidants that
are not found anywhere else in nature. Many of the antioxidants found in Rooibos are similar to those found in green tea.
Studies
show that women may be able to lower their risk of ovarian cancer. By drinking just one cup daily of green or black tea
women may be able to lower their risk of ovarian cancer by 24 percent - by drinking at least two cups, the risk appears to drop
by 48 percent. That's the finding of Swedish researches who studied the tea-drinking habits of more that 60,000 women over a
15-year period. Scientists have long believed that tea helps women ward off cancer, but this study, published in the December
26, 2005 issue of the "Archives of Internal Medicine" is the first to look at the effect on ovarian cancer specifically.
The
researches have not determined why tea has such a beneficical impact or whether black or green tea is more effective. Regardless,
the "advise to women is to increase the consumption of tea," says lead researcher Susanna Larsson of