Green
tea is the least popular non-alcoholic beverage in the United
States, according to information recently released by the
American Institute for Cancer Research. Turns out most of
us would rather drink bottled water, soft drinks, milk or
coffee. Black tea isn’t all that popular either, with
just one third of the population enjoying it. (Surprisingly,
wine fared worse at a measly 9 percent.)
These
statistics are surprising, especially considering how health-conscious
American society has become. It seems that people forget
(or simply ignore) the health benefits of green tea, which
is full of nutrients and antioxidants and has recently been
discovered to contain an anti-cancer compound.
According
to the AICR, there’s an increasing amount of scientific
evidence (including six papers presented at the International
Research Conference on Food, Nutrition and Cancer) suggesting
that regular consumption of green tea may have a role in
preventing a variety of cancers.
“The
overwhelming majority of Americans may be cutting themselves
off from the very cancer-protective, health-promoting effects
that are beginning to show up again and again in the scientific
literature,” said Jeffrey R. Prince, AICR Vice President
for Education.
People
in Asia certainly have a head start, with an average per
capita consumption of three to four cups of green tea per
day in Japan and China. Unlike the United States, green
tea is a diet staple in these east Asian countries. Older
populations (70 years and up) drink even more — ten
cups a day is not unusual.
According
to Dr. Thomas A. Gasiewicz, a professor of environmental
medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center,
there’s an active green tea substance called EGCG
that targets cancer-causing proteins “with a degree
of precision that cancer drugs still aren’t able to
match.” Basically, the compound EGCG binds to a protein
called HSP90, which helps prevent a chain of cancer-causing
events in the body.
“If
further research confirms that EGCG’s ability to bind
to such a basic and pervasive protein enables it to extend
its protective effect throughout our bodies, it explains
a scientific mystery,” said Gasiewicz. Dr. Gasiewicz’s
EGCG study was presented on July 14, 2005 at the International
Research Conference on Food, Nutrition and Cancer in Washington,
D.C., a conference hosted annually by the American Institute
for Cancer Research and World Cancer Research Fund International.
The
exact amount of green tea needed for cancer prevention is
currently being studied in clinical trials. In the meantime,
researchers say that two to three U.S. teacups per day (a
typical Japanese teacup holds four fluid ounces or 120 milliliters
of tea, while a typical American teacup holds six fluid
ounces or approximately 180 milliliters of tea) has been
associated with cancer protection in many studies.
