Green tea drinkers appear to be slightly less susceptible to some types of cancer. A ten-year epidemiological study of nearly 70,000 Chinese women found that those who drank green tea at least three times a week were diagnosed with fewer cancers of the esophagus, colon and stomach than those who skipped the tea. This study doesn’t show whether green tea is responsible for this protective effect, however. The green tea drinkers had other healthy habits, including better diets, more exercise and better-paying jobs.
Laboratory research shows that it is plausible for green tea to prevent cancer. Its antioxidant compounds, particularly EGCG (epigallo-catechin-gallate), seem to protect cells from pre-cancerous damage. Another recent study randomly assigned men diagnosed with prostate cancer to drink six cups of green tea or water daily for several weeks until surgery to remove their prostate glands was performed. The men who drank green tea had significant drops in PSA levels and reduced markers of inflammation in their prostate tissue. No one knows whether drinking green tea truly reduces the likelihood of cancer developing, but the risks of consuming tea are extremely low for most people.
[American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Nov. 2012; AACR, Oct 2012]
