Using Green Tea to Help Prevent Cancer and Treat Cancer

Tea consumption is related to a diminished danger of coronary heart illness, stroke, and untimely loss of life on the whole, with every further cup of inexperienced tea a day related to a 4-percent decrease mortality danger. So, maybe “ingesting a number of cups of tea each day can hold the physician away,” in addition to the mortician—however what about most cancers?

As I focus on in my video Can Green Tea Help Prevent Cancer, there’s “rising proof from laboratory, epidemiologic [population], and human intervention research that tea can exert helpful disease-preventive results” and, additional, may very well “sluggish most cancers development.” Let’s evaluate a few of that proof.

Not solely do those that drink lots of tea seem to reside longer than those that drink much less, as you possibly can see at 0:49 in my video, ingesting a number of tea may additionally delay the onset of most cancers. At 0:56 in my video, you possibly can see a desk titled “Common age at most cancers onset and each day inexperienced tea consumption.” The inexperienced tea consumption is measured in Japanese tea cups, which solely include a half a cup, so the very best class within the desk is definitely better than or equal to 5 full cups of tea, not ten because it seems within the desk. Girls who did get most cancers appeared to get it seven years later if that they had been ingesting a number of tea in contrast to those that had consumed much less. Males, nevertheless, had a three-year delay in most cancers onset if that they had consumed greater than 5 full cups of inexperienced tea each day, the distinction doubtlessly “due to greater tobacco consumption by males.”

Green tea could give you the chance to intrude with every of the phases of most cancers formation: the initiation of the primary most cancers cell, promotion right into a tumor, and then subsequent development and unfold, as you possibly can see at 1:24 in my video. Cancer is commonly initiated when a free radical oxidizes our DNA, inflicting a mutation, however, as you possibly can see at 1:44 in my video, we will get a pleasant “spike of antioxidant energy” of our bloodstream inside 40 minutes of ingesting inexperienced tea. “This improve could, in flip, decrease oxidative injury to DNA and so lower danger of most cancers.”

Moreover, by way of genoprotective results—that’s, defending our genes—pre-existing oxidation-induced DNA injury was decrease after ingesting inexperienced tea, suggesting consumption can increase DNA restore as properly. We didn’t know for sure, nevertheless…till now.

There’s a DNA-repair enzyme in our physique referred to as OGG1. As you possibly can see at 2:15 in my video, inside one hour of ingesting a single cup of inexperienced tea, we will increase OGG1’s exercise, and after per week of tea ingesting, we will increase it even greater. So, “common consumption of inexperienced tea has further advantages within the prevention and/or restore of DNA injury.” In actual fact, tea is so DNA-protective it may be used for sperm storage for recent samples till they are often correctly refrigerated.

What’s extra, tea is so anti-inflammatory it may be used for ache management as a mouthwash after knowledge tooth surgical procedure, as you possibly can see at 2:41 in my video. When it comes to controlling most cancers development, at a dose of inexperienced tea compounds that may make it into our organs after ingesting six cups of tea, it may well trigger most cancers cells to commit suicide—apoptosis (programmed cell loss of life)—whereas leaving regular cells alone. There are a variety of chemotherapy brokers that may kill most cancers by brute pressure, however that may make regular cells weak, too. So, “[g]reen tea seems to be doubtlessly an excellent agent for [cancer] prevention”: little or no antagonistic side-effects, efficacious for a number of cancers at achievable dose ranges, and ready to be taken orally. Now we have a way of the way it works—the way it stops most cancers cells from rising and inflicting them to kill off themselves—and it’s low cost and has a historical past of secure, acceptable use. However, all of this was primarily based on in-vitro research in a check tube. “It wants to be evaluated in human trials,” concluded the researchers. Certainly, what occurs once we give inexperienced tea to folks with most cancers? Does it assist?

Tea consumption could scale back the chance of getting oral most cancers. Not solely could the consumption of tea increase the antioxidant energy of our bloodstream inside minutes and lower the quantity of free-radical DNA injury all through our programs over time, however it may well additionally improve the antioxidant energy of our saliva and lower the DNA injury inside the interior cheek cells of people who smoke, although not as a lot as stopping smoking all collectively. You may see a number of graphs and tables exhibiting these findings within the first 35 seconds of my video Can Green Tea Help Treat Cancer?.

May this assist precancerous oral lesions from turning into cancerous oral lesions? Greater than 100,000 folks develop oral most cancers yearly worldwide, with a five-year general survival price of lower than the flip of a coin. Oral most cancers ceaselessly arises from precancerous lesions within the mouth, every having a number of p.c probability of turning cancerous yearly. Can inexperienced tea assist?

Fifty-nine sufferers with precancerous oral lesions have been randomized into both a tea group, through which capsules of powdered tea extract got and their lesions have been painted with inexperienced tea powder, or a management group, who basically acquired sugar tablets and their lesions painted with nothing however glycerin. As you possibly can see at 1:23 in my video, inside six months, lesions in 11 out of the 29 within the tea group shrunk, in contrast to solely Three of 30 within the placebo group. “The outcomes point out that tea therapy can enhance the scientific manifestations of the oral lesions.”

An important query, although, is whether or not the tea therapy prevented the lesions from turning cancerous. As a result of the trial solely lasted a number of months, the researchers couldn’t inform. Once they scraped some cells off of the lesions, nevertheless, there was a big drop in DNA-damaged cells inside three months within the therapy teams, suggesting that issues have been entering into the correct route, as you possibly can see at 1:46 in my video. Ideally, we’d have an extended examine to see in the event that they ended up with much less most cancers and one which simply used swallowed tea parts, since most individuals don’t finger-paint with tea of their mouths. And, we acquired simply that.

As you possibly can see at 2:15 in my video, there have been the identical extraordinary scientific outcomes with some precancerous lesions shrinking away. What’s extra, the examine lasted lengthy sufficient to see if fewer folks really acquired most cancers. The reply? There was simply as a lot new most cancers within the inexperienced tea group because the placebo group. So, the tea therapy resulted in a better response price, because the lesions appeared higher, however there was no enchancment in cancer-free survival.

These research have been accomplished on largely people who smoke and former people who smoke. What about lung most cancers? As you possibly can see at 2:46 in my video, inhabitants research counsel tea could also be protecting, however let’s put it to the check. Seventeen sufferers with superior lung most cancers got up to the equal of 30 cups of inexperienced tea a day, however “[n]o goal responses have been seen.” In a examine of 49 most cancers sufferers, 21 of whom had lung most cancers, the themes obtained between 4 and 25 cups price of inexperienced tea compounds a day. As soon as once more, no advantages have been discovered. The one profit inexperienced tea could give you the chance to supply lung most cancers sufferers is to assist reduce the burns from the radiation remedies when utilized on the pores and skin. Certainly, inexperienced tea compresses could give you the chance to shorten the period of the burns, as you possibly can see at 3:21 in my video.

The protecting results of inexperienced tea utilized topically have been additionally seen in precancerous cervical lesions, the place the twice-a-day direct software of a inexperienced tea ointment confirmed a helpful response in almost three-quarters of the sufferers, in contrast to solely about 10 p.c within the untreated management group, which is in keeping with the advantages of inexperienced tea compounds on cervical most cancers cells in a petri dish. When ladies got inexperienced tea extract tablets to take, nevertheless, they didn’t appear to assist.

I talked concerning the potential advantage of inexperienced tea wraps for pores and skin most cancers in Treating Gorlin Syndrome with Green Tea, however is there another most cancers the place inexperienced tea can come into direct contact? Sure. Colon most cancers, which grows from the interior floor of the colon that comes into contact with meals and drink. As you possibly can see at 4:13 in my video, within the colon, tea compounds are fermented by our good intestine micro organism into compounds like 3,4DHPA, which seems to wipe out colon most cancers cells, whereas leaving regular colon cells comparatively intact in vitro. So 100 thirty-six sufferers with a historical past of polyps have been randomized to get inexperienced tea extract tablets or not. Now, this examine was accomplished in Japan, the place ingesting inexperienced tea is commonplace, so, successfully, this was evaluating those that drank three cups of inexperienced tea a day to topics who drank 4 each day cups. A yr in a while colonoscopy, the added-green tea group had solely half the polyp recurrence and the polyps that did develop have been 25 p.c smaller. With such thrilling findings, why hasn’t a bigger follow-up examine been accomplished? Maybe due to the issue “in elevating funds” for the examine, “as a result of inexperienced tea is a beverage however not a pharmaceutical.”

There’s excellent news. Thanks to a serious most cancers charity in Germany, researchers are at the moment recruiting for the biggest inexperienced tea most cancers trial to date, through which greater than 2,000 sufferers will probably be randomized. I look ahead to presenting the outcomes to you once they are available in.

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What about prostate most cancers? See my movies Stopping Prostate Cancer with Green Tea and Treating Prostate Cancer with Green Tea.

You might also be eager about these considerably older movies:

• Antimutagenic Exercise of Green vs. White Tea
• Treating Gorlin Syndrome with Green Tea
• Why Do Asian Girls Have Much less Breast Cancer?
• Cancer, Interrupted: Green Tea
• Treating Genital Warts with Green Tea
• Advantages of Green Tea for Boosting Antiviral Immune Operate

How fascinating was that about knowledge tooth? Green tea will also be used as an anti-cavity mouth rinse, which I focus on in my video What’s the Finest Mouthwash?.

Is Caffeinated Tea Dehydrating? Watch the video to discover out.

In well being,
Michael Greger, M.D.

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