Green tea, with its popularity amongst many Asians, particularly Japanese for thousands of years, is an excellent beverage drink which everyone should not ignore its medicinal capability in the treatment of various diseases.
Being part of the evergreen shrub Camellia sinensis, it contain compounds known as polyphenols, a class of bioflavonoids which are found in all plants and believed to have anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral properties. Highly believed for its ability to guard against cancer by limiting the primary characteristic of cancer cell replication, it scavenges for free radicals which are the by-products from all the chemical reactions that occur in the body and which can damage the cells that have that capability to block the action of carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) and detoxify them.
However, many studies in the past had provided contradictory evidences on its protection capability against cancer. Reviews over time from 1980 to 2003, have varying results basically over controls used and thus many factors were included in the adjustments such as:-
- BMI and the dietary profile aside from the simultaneous tea usage and alcohol consumption, economic status,
- education as a surrogate for socioeconomic status,
- fruit and vegetable intake,
- fiber intake from all sources,
- fiber from fruit, vegetables and cereal separately considered,
- calcium, vitamin C, vitamin D and folic acid as well as total caloric intakes
This makes cross comparisons of studies difficult because different subsets were used.
#Studies recently on 40,530 Japanese adults in 2008 had on the contrary shown that consumption of green tea, with its protective effects of green tea and green tea constituents, particularly catechins, has been inversely associated with the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular risk factors. A 31 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease was noted for women who drank five or more cups of green tea daily against women who drank less than one cup daily whereas in men, the comparable reduced risk was 22 percent. In short, the more you drink, the less the risk on the cardiovascular system.
The anti-atherosclerotic mechanism on the effects of green tea consumption primarily entail the anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, and anti-thrombotic properties, including the beneficial effects on endothelial function. This has prevented the buildup of plaque on the inner lining of arteries which reduces ability of vessels to dilate as needed, and may play a role in blockages and blood clots. Moreover, evidence also exists for myocardial effects of tea constituents, including positive increase cardiac contraction strength/output and anti-heart enlargement effects, and beneficial impact against inflammation and oxidative damage when blood supply to the heart is blocked or reduced. As such, green tea phytochemicals used in the study blocks the new formation of atherosclerosis which is the plaque in the arteries without reduce existing plaque in the arteries. Green tea has long been used as a powerful healing herb for heart disease patients, and this new research certainly backs that up.
Notwithstanding previous negative results of green tea, new studies continue to press on and green tea increasingly looks like a multi-talented healing herb. Its anti-cancer properties are very well known in the naturopathic community, its ability to counter mental depression is widely recognized, and its efficacy as a weight loss herb is also soundly documented. It certainly appears now that cardiovascular disease can be added to the long list of conditions that can be aided by the consumption of green tea.
#Source: Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, Nov 2008; 11(6):758-65 PMID: 18827581, by Jochmann N, Baumann G, Stangl V. Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Kardiologie und Angiologie, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
