Green Tea Helps Mouse Arthritis: Polyphenols, isolated from green tea which contains higher amounts than black tea, decreased mouse arthritis produced by injecting a substance to imitate RA. There was virtually no cartilage damage in polyphenol mice although it was present in controls. Far fewer immune-system cells were present in the polyphenol mice. Tariq Haqqi, Case Western, Proceedings of the Natl Acad Sci 4/13/99 & Sci News 4/17/99.

Cancer

Cuts Cancer Enzyme: Purdue’s James Morre found epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) shuts down quinol-oxidase, an enzyme CA needs to divide & effect limited to CA cells. Black tea has much less, 1-10%. Sci News 1/2/99.

Cancer Studies: One of 3 cohort and 1 of 12 case control studies find tea increased stomach cancer but 5 case control studies found it protective. Eleven human studies suggest green tea protects against colon cancer, while black increased it. Tea & Cancer Prev, Nutr & Cancer 27:1-13 ’97. Two large prospective studies: Kinlen study 14,085 London men found less cancer with less than 6 cups tea; Klatsky 128,934 ‘78-’88 study found no association between cancer and tea.

Increased HDL, Decreased Total Cholesterol: A potful of tea a day of may increase HDL good cholesterol. Retrospective study BMJ 3/18/98.

Helps Decrease Rat Weight: A University of Chicago study in Endocrinol 3/2000 by Liao found decreased sex hormones, decreased weight of the uterus and prostate, and major decreases in food intake and weight in general.

Decreased Stomach Cancer: Japanese adults were matched in a case-study. Those drinking over 6 cups per day had a risk ratio of RR .69. Coffee lowers rectal cancer. No association was found with esophageal or colon cancer. Cancer Causes Control 5/98.

Decreased Strokes: Green tea of 5 cups per day in 5,910 Japanese adults with 4 years follow-up found it associated with a decrease in strokes of 50%. Tohoku J Exp Med 4/89.

Hot Tea Increase: 220,272 adults ages 40-69 in a prospective study found that hot tea increased esophageal cancer 1.6 times, but moderate amounts of hot tea did not. Alcohol found drinks per week increased it 2.4 times, smoking 2.3 times, and a low consumption of green vegetables 2.0 times. J Epid 10/98. Cruciferous and dark green vegetables markedly decreased renal cell cancer in 1,204 patients matched in a Los Angeles study. Int J Cancer 7/98.

Decreased Cancer: 2,100 patients matched in a Chinese study found the highest tea consumption had a RR for colon cancer of 0.77, for rectal 0.65, pancreatic 0.58. Int J Cancer 1/97

No Benefit Black Tea: In a large Netherlands study of 121,000 adults ages 55-69 followed 4.3 years prospectively, found no benefit for black tea for cancer of the colon, lung, breast, and stomach. J Natl Can Inst 1/96

High Tea Helps Heart Attack Victims: 1,900 heart attack victims found that those who drank the most tea before their heart attacks - about 19 cups a week - were 44 percent less likely than nondrinkers to die in the three to four years afterward. Moderate drinkers, or those who had fewer than 14 cups, had a 28 percent lower death rate. The study looked at deaths from all causes. Harvard, Circ 5/7/02. Benefit to healthy adults is more mixed.

Decreased Stomach Cancer: Shanghai 711 patients with stomach cancer were matched with controls. A high intake of green tea had a RR 0.71 for stomach cancer. Cancer Causes Control 11/95. And 1,016 esophageal cancer patients were matched with controls and found an odd ratio of OR .43 for nonsmoking nondrinkers. J Natl Cancer Inst 6/94.

Increased Longevity: 3,380 Japanese tea ceremony females had a risk ratio for death of RR 0.55. Tohoku J Exp Med 2/92.

Increased Ulcerative Colitis: Increases in Ulcerative Colitis from green tea, rice, and bread in 50 Japanese adult UC patients matched with 50 selected controls.

Decreased Polyps: Strenuous exercise, rice, green tea, and instant coffee were all linked to a decrease in polyps.  J Clin Epid ’91 44:1255.

Polyphenols: 1/3 dry weight of tea is made up of polyphenols. These inhibit cancer growth and induce cancer cell apoptosis (cell suicide). In a study of 8,500 Paitama, Japan adults for 9 years found the risk ratio for females RR 0.57 and males RR 0.68 for all cancers for 10 small cups/day. Also, 5 cups decreased breast cancer recurrence rates and increase disease free periods. J CA Res Clin Onc 10/4/99

Vitamin C & Green Tea Additive: 25 humans ate fish and were measured for nitrosodemethylamine, a carcinogen, which was decreased after green tea and vitamin C. Capsaisin reportedly works against mutagenesis and tumorigenesis. Ginger and tumeric also help. Green tea is associated with a decrease in stomach, esophageal, and lung cancers. Rapid absorption of antioxidants from tea peaks at 40 minutes with excretion peaking at 60-90 minutes. Nutr Cancer 99 34:83.

Prostate Cancer Decreased: Prostate cancer is lowest in China. Some studies suggest GT decreased prostate cancer death. Semin Urol Oncol 5/99 17:70.

Decreased Stomach Cancer: 272 matched pairs China. Risk ratios of stomach cancer were fish sauce 2.57, pickled vegetables 1.4, seafood 1.57, low vegetable consumption 1.95, low citrus consumption 1.4, low green tea 1.7, moldy cereal 2.3, irregular meal time 5.4, family history of cancer 3.3. Chung Hua Yu Fang I Hsueh Tsa Chih 3/98 32:100

No Help Stomach Cancer: 419 case matched control study northern Japan where stomach CA high found green tea consumption had no impact. NEJM 6/12/2001

Decreased Collagen Arthritis in Mice: Proc Natl Acad Sci 4/99

Hepatoprotective and Against Caries: Tea inhibit plaque on teeth. Pharmacol 7/99

Thomas E. Radecki, M.D., J.D.

modern-psychiatry.com