Health

Can green tea protect against cancer?

by LotusFlower | November 8, 2008 at 06:46 am

197 views | 2 Recommendations | 1 comment

The humble cuppa could be a cancer killer as well as as providing its traditional refreshing restorative powers when taking a break from work.

Alternative and complimentary therapists have long made health claims for tea and now the Australian government is providing funds to find out just how useful in treating and preventing cancer, tea and in particular green tea, might be.

CAN green tea protect against breast cancer, bowel cancer and leukaemia? Australian researchers have been given almost $1million to find out.

The four-year study also hopes to identify the genetic make-up of people who are able to benefit most from certain chemicals, called polyphenols, which are present in green tea.

If successful, the study will add to a growing body of evidence linking green tea with health benefits such as weight loss, lower cholesterol levels and prevention of diabetes.

Professor D'Arcy Holman from the School of Population Health at the University of Western Australia said more than 70 laboratory and animal studies worldwide had consistently shown that green tea halts tumour cell growth.

This study hopes to find whether those anti-cancer effects translate to humans, particularly for breast, colorectal and blood cancers.

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Ravisingh (not verified)

at 20:48 on April 9th, 2009

Drinking green tea inhibits the growth of certain cancer cells, reduces the level of cholesterol in blood, improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol.