Sunday, January 17, 2010

Green Tea Nutrition Benefits Regarding Cancer

By Aoife Joyce

Green Tea has for years been the nutrition tea of all teas for the Chinese. They recognized its power and abilities to heal and prevent illnesses over 4,000 years ago. In this article I am going to discuss those powers in detail, so pay close attention...

To begin with, Green Tea stands out against all other teas in that its production is different. The leaves of the plant that green tea is made from, Camelia Sinensis, are steamed dry in production. This steaming action prevents the precious antioxidants in the leaves from being destroyed or changed in any way. Teas like Oolong and White Tea are produced by fermentation, which changes the vital antioxidants into other forms. The key antioxidant that Green Tea has that brings the most benefits is a catechin polyphenol called Epilgallocatechin Gallate, or in short EGCG.

EGCG is basically a flavanoid, and is similar yet more powerful than its cousin flavanoids found in broccoli, red wine, grapes and green cabbage. EGCG is capable of binding itself to protein cells that are found on tumour cells and dramatically slowing down their growth. A receptor found on the surface of cancer cells called Laminin, was treated with EGCG concentrate and the results of this showed significant reduction in further cell growth. This finding was revealed in April's issue of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology magazine. It was also stated that the concentration of EGCG's that showed these results were the same amount you get from drinking just 3 cups of Green Tea a day.

Another discovery, this time by Dr. H -H Sherry Chow of University of Arizona, Tucson told us that within itself, the body creates a detoxifying enzyme called Glutathione S- Transverase (GST). These GST enzymes support the body in protecting itself against toxic substances and cancer causing compounds. Dr. Chow's study revealed that GST enzymes were activated by EGCG. With a group of volunteers who showed low levels of GST, a concentrate of Green Tea extract was used to test out this theory. The volunteers had an increase average of 80% in GST production. Because of this increase their defending capabilities against cancer and such illnesses was improved to a remarkable degree. The Green Tea extract that was used to do these tests had a higher concentrate than that which you would get from having a few cups of tea daily. In saying this, it is clear that by introducing Green Tea into your diet, that you will improve your GST enzyme levels over time which will help in keeping them activated and working on growing and defending for you.

Another astonishing find shows that EGCG can react with Leukaemia cells in that it halts communication between the cells, which deters them from growing and multiplying any further. On this note I would like to point out that, regardless of the multiples of Green Tea products you can buy for your skin, or extracts you can take as supplements - a freshly brewed cup of Green Tea is the best way to avail of the powerful antioxidants it contains. During production, as I stated earlier, the leaves are steamed dry during production, thus saving all antioxidant concentrates. When the leaves/tea bag is soaked in hot water, this is how the antioxidants are set free if you will. So this is the absolute freshest way you can obtain their full influence and take full advantage of the potency straight away, before it is produced again to make an extract or a cream. Get it at its best!

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