Encouraging Health

Men who consume 5 cups a day or more could halve risk, study finds

Drinking green tea may reduce the risk of advanced prostate cancer, according to a study by researchers at Japan’s National Cancer Center.

It said men who drank five or more cups a day might halve the risk of developing advanced prostate cancer compared with those who drank less than one cup a day.

“This does not mean that people who drink green tea are guaranteed to have reduced risk of advanced prostate cancer,�? said Norie Kurahashi, a scientist who took part in the study.

“We are just presenting our results. But the study does point to the hope that green tea reduces the risk of advanced prostate cancer.�?

Prostate cancer is much less common among Asian men than Western men, and that may be partly due to the effects of the high consumption of green tea in Asia, the study said.

But it said further studies are needed to confirm the preventive effects of green tea on prostate cancer, including well-designed clinical trials.

The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, compiled data from 50,000 men aged 40-69 over a period of up to 14 years from 1990.

British charity Cancer Research UK says on its Web site that a study of almost 20,000 Japanese men published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2006 found no relationship between green tea and prostate cancer.

600 mg of Standardised Green Tea Extract…
Another study measured the effects of a one year green tea supplementation trial on 32 men with “PIN” (Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia), which is a pre-malignant from of prostate cancer. There were 30 none supplemented men in the control group.

At the end of the one year trial, only one of the 32 men treated with green tea catechins went on to develop actual cancer. Conversely, 9 of the 30 men given placebo developed prostate cancer. Thus, in this trail, it appears that the green tea catechins decreased the likelihood of progression of prostate cancer by 90%! Although this was a small study, it was extremely convincing.

Professor Bettuzzi went on to say:-
“There are other studies strongly suggesting that similar results from green tea could be obtained for prevention of other types of cancer. As a matter of fact, breast and colon cancer are possible targets. In the near future, we are supposed to start a collaborative trial involving both Italy and the United States on this matter”.
Keep in mind that the above study used standardized green tea catechins (600 mgs per day), not just brewed green tea. You would have to drink twelve or more cups of green tea to equal that dose(4).

It appears that the benefit of the green tea catechins relates to a particular chemical within the catechins known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). The Italian study clearly demonstrated that EGCG targets prostate cancer cells specifically for elimination without damaging normal tissue.

More about the Green Tea Polyphenols…
Green tea or a lipid-extract obtained from green tea leaves has multiple pharmacologic actions(3). Green and black tea are derived from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. However, only green tea is rich in the flavonol group of polyphenols known as catechins. The fermentation process used in making black tea destroys the biologically active polyphenols of the fresh leaf. The catechins as a chemical group have significant free-radical scavenging properties and are potent antioxidants. The four catechins that are found in green tea leaves include:
Epicatechin (EC)
Epigallocatechin (EGC)
Epicatechin gallate (ECG)
Epigallocatechin-3 gallate (EGCG)

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green tea, prostate cancee

green tea, prostate cancee