Drink up.
That tall glass of iced tea or steaming hot cup of chai could save your life - or at least prolong it.
So say an increasing number of researchers pointing to the Camellia sinensis plant - from which green, black and white teas are made - as a remarkable, oft-underestimated health tonic with the ability to fend off cancer, reverse heart disease, and promote mental clarity, to name a few.
“Not a day goes by in which somebody isn’t discovering another fantastic thing about tea and its role in determining human health,” says Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Council of the USA, an industry trade group. “We now have scientific credibility to back many of the intuitive things that have been said about tea over the years.”
Of course, tea has been associated with calmness and well-being for roughly 5,000 years, since - as the legend goes - a Chinese emperor accidentally dropped some leaves from a nearby tree into the water he was boiling.
But only since the early 1990s, when animal models began to reveal anti-carcinogenic properties in tea leaves, have scientists in the United States seriously begun to study what health benefits it carries, and how it works.
Since then, the tea market has exploded, growing from a $1.8 billion industry in 1990 to more than $6.5 billion today, according to the Tea Council.
And thanks to an array of new bottled products and specialty tea boutiques, tea continues to shift from a drink once associated with grandmas sitting in rocking chairs to one that people of all ages are reaching for.
That’s good news to Lenore Arab, Ph.D., a professor of nutrition and epidemiology with the UCLA Department of Medicine.
“I always prefer it if we can find disease prevention through choices in our diet, rather than going to pills,” she says. “With tea, we are talking about something that is quite inexpensive, is calorie free, has a wonderful taste, and can offer this quiet moment in our busy lifestyle if prepared in the traditional style.”
Arab says that researchers don’t yet know precisely what tea’s active ingredients are, but they have some ideas. Tea is loaded with flavonoids - antioxidant compounds that can neutralize destructive free radicals before they damage the cells. It also contains an amino acid called theanine, which can cross the blood-brain barrier reducing stress and possibly promoting better cognitive function.
A look at tea and areas it might affect:
Skin cancer: In May, researchers from Dartmouth Medical School published a study of more than 2,000 people which found that, after adjustment for other factors, consuming two or more cups of tea per day significantly reduced their risk of developing skin cancer. Previous laboratory studies have found that mice given green tea in their drinking water had significantly fewer UV-induced tumors than those who weren’t.
“Green tea prevents UV radiation-induced suppression of the immune system, which has been considered a risk factor for the development of skin cancer,” said Santosh Katiyar, PhD., a University of Alabama researcher who has studied the impact of tea consumption in mice.
Heart disease: Arab’s own research suggests that an increase of tea intake to three cups of tea per day can reduce heart disease risk overall by 23 percent. And numerous other studies suggest that in people who have already had a heart attack, drinking tea can prevent another one by restoring elasticity to restricted arteries. But she cautions that the change doesn’t occur overnight.
“It isn’t like you drink the tea today and it protects you from cancer or heart disease tomorrow. It is a long-term cumulative effect.”
One study by Dutch researchers found that people who drank one to two cups of black tea daily had 46 percent lower risk of atherosclerosis (clogging of the arteries), and those who drank more than four cups per day had a 69 percent lower risk.
Another Harvard study examined 340 men and women who had already suffered a heart attack and compared them to matched controls: Those who drank a cup or more of black tea every day had a 44 percent reduction in the risk of another heart attack.
Cancer: One of the largest areas of research surrounding tea and cancer has to do with preventing recurrence of prostate cancer, with numerous animal studies suggesting that compounds found in tea can slow tumor growth and promote programmed cell death. Other studies have shown that tea drinkers are less likely to develop rectal, colon, urinary tract, ovarian or pancreatic cancer.
Immune function: Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University recently published a paper suggesting that another substance in tea, L-theanine, may work to prime the immune system to better fight off infection. A subsequent human trial showed that participants who drank five cups of black tea per day for four weeks secreted up to four times more interferon, an important tool in the body’s effort to fight off illness.
Weight control: Although evidence is fairly preliminary, some research suggests that drinking tea may have effects on body weight, fat accumulation, insulin activity, and the rate at which the body burns calories. Plus, Arab points out, it meets the body’s need for plenty of fluid, without adding lots of sugar.
Oral health: Some research suggests that flavonoids in tea may inhibit the plaque-forming ability of oral bacteria, and the fluoride in tea may support healthy tooth enamel. One study conducted at the New York University Dental Center found that hamsters fed tea instead of water had 63.7 percent fewer cavities.
Downsides?
As with anything, tea can have its downsides. It does contain caffeine (although a fraction of what coffee contains), so those who up their tea intake should take care to reduce other sources of caffeine, such as chocolate and coffee. Because compounds in tea can bind with non-meat sources of iron, making them less available to the body, experts recommend drinking tea between meals rather than with them, and refraining from giving children too much tea.
How much and what kind?
Experts say that in order to get the most bang, healthwise, out of tea, people should drink between three and six cups per day of teas made with Camellia sinensis, such as black, green, white and oolong.
“From my perspective, they all seem to be relatively equivalent” when it comes to health benefits, Arab says. (Herbal teas, while they may contain their own health benefits, are not the one’s researchers are referring to in the above studies.)
If possible, make it fresh yourself, rather than out of a bottle, so you know just what you are getting and you don’t get too much sugar.
And at least a few times a day, take your tea with caffeine.
Some researchers believe that the process of decaffeinating it may diminish some of its health qualities.
Tea 101
A look at different types of tea:
Black tea: Is made from the dried leaves of Camellia sinensis, a white, flowering evergreen bush native to China and India.
Green tea: Is made from the same plant, but the leaves are either steamed or pan-fired right after they are picked.
White tea: Is made from the first tender buds and top leaves of the same tea bush, typically gathered in springtime.
Chai: Is typically black tea mixed with herbs.
Herb tea: Is made from many different plants using leaves, flowers, roots, bark and seeds. It does not contain any part of the Camellia sinensis, so it is naturally caffeine free.
SOURCE: CELESTIAL SEASONINGS
By Lisa Marshall/Scripps Howard News Service
Submitted by Esther S. Conolly, R.D.H.
What common oral condition appears as shallow ulcers of different sizes, affects one in five Americans, can be caused by food allergies and hormonal changes, and also can cause severe mouth pain? Commonly referred to as “canker sores,” recurrent aphthous ulcers (RAU) now can be treated by an extract in licorice root herbal extract, according to a study published in the March/April 2008 issue of General Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry’s (AGD) clinical, peer-reviewed journal. 
