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Fight Cancer with Greentea
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Green Tea: Nature's Most Powerful AntioxidantAmazing new research suggests that a potent antioxidant in green tea, known as EGCG, can help prevent and treat cancer in humans, notably prostate cancer and a form of leukemia called CLL, and help slow the spread of breast cancer and ovarian cancer in animals. If you listen to the Food and Drug Administration, green tea has no proven health benefits. But if you listen to scientists around the world, green tea possesses one of nature's most powerful antioxidants, called EGCG, that in many tests has stopped cancer cold. I first heard of this miracle in 1987 from a National Cancer Institute researcher who was excited by new Japanese studies claiming EGCG blocked cancer. Today, thousands of scientists are saying the same thing. New research piles up daily, showing that modest doses of EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) in green tea fights development and progression of cancer. EGCG saved 90% of men at high risk from developing prostate cancer and reversed leukemia (CLL) in women.in recent studies. In test tubes, EGCG thwarts the growth of human cancer cells--of the breast, prostate, lungs, ovaries, and liver. Dozens of studies link green tea and EGCG to dramatically lower rates of a variety of cancers. A flurry of new studies also suggests EGCG has broad-spectrum powers against Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, heart disease, infections, diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, arthritis, dental cavities, gum disease, weight gain and premature aging. EGCG is increasingly recognized as a ubiquitous miracle worker among the world's top researchers at leading medical centers. Here's the latest research you need to know about this amazing green tea chemical. EGCG Stops Prostate CancerTaking green tea capsules virtually wiped out the development of prostate cancer in men at high risk, says Italian researcher Dr. Saverio Bettuzzi, University of Parma. He gave men 600 mg a day of concentrated green tea catechins, containing 300 mg EGCG, or a placebo for a year. All the men had premalignant lesions, putting them at risk of progression to full blown advanced and potentially fatal prostate cancer. After a year, only one man (3%) in the group on green tea capsules developed prostate cancer compared with 9 men (28%) on placebo. Thus, the green tea was nearly 90% effective in preventing prostate cancer, said researchers. They attribute the anti-cancer activity to the daily 300 mg of antioxidant EGCG. As to whether green tea's EGCG can prevent prostate cancer, "the answer is clearly yes," says Dr. Bettuzzi. (Betuzzi S. Cancer Res 2006 Jan15;66(2): 1234-40) EGCG Reverses LeukemiaThe stunning news that green tea can stop leukemia comes from researchers at the world-famous Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. They documented that chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) did not progress or regressed dramatically in four patients who took green tea capsules or drank green tea. The researchers had previously found that green tea's unique antioxidant, EGCG, killed leukemic B-cells in test tubes. Some patients, hearing this news, started taking EGCG in capsules or drinking more green tea on their own. Here are the remarkable results in four patients, as reported in the medical journal (Leukemia Research) by hematologist Tait Shanafelt, M.D. and colleagues at Mayo.
Bottom line: Mayo's Dr. Shanafelt credits EGCG in green tea for the anticancer activity. "This agent may provide new hope for CLL patients," says Dr. Shanafelt. (Shanafelt TC, et al. Leukemia Research, 2005, Nov. 30) EGCG Thwarts Breast
Cancer
Green tea's EGCG kills breast cancer cells and may help prevent the onset and progression of the malignancy. According to new studies at the Uniformed Service University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, EGCG killed breast cancer cells in cell cultures and blocked cancer progression in animals. Animals were innoculated with human breast cancer cells and then given green tea polyphenols and specifically EGCG. Those getting the green tea and EGCG had fewer tumors and did not develop them as fast as animals given only plain water. EGCG clearly killed breast cancer cells and inhibited spread of the cancer, concluded researchers. Not surprisingly, new research also shows that Asian Americans who drink green tea have a lower risk of breast cancer. (Thangapazham RL, Cancer Lett 2006 Mar 3). EGCG Kills Ovarian Cancer CellsA new focus on green tea's potential to prevent and treat ovarian cancer shows that EGCG suppresses cancer cell growth by inducing them to commit suicide. In short, EGCG selectively killed ovarian cancer cells, leaving normal cells untouched. (Huh SW. Gynecol Oncol 94:2004: 760-768) Further, EGCG may be important in treating ovarian cancer, says Marion M. Chan, at The State University of New Jersey. She finds that EGCG not only kills ovarian cancer cells, but also increases the potency of cisplatin, a common drug used to treat ovarian cancer, by six fold. This means a lower dose of cisplatin could be effective if combined with EGCG. This is "potentially very important," says Dr. Chan, because high doses of cisplatin used to curb ovarian cancer have serious side effects limiting the drug's use. EGCG, she concludes "may alleviate the probelm of cisplatin toxicity and resistance, a major obstacle in chemotherapy for ovarian cancer." Further evidence that green tea may help treat ovarian cancer comes from Australian research showing that Chinese women with epithelial ovarian cancer who drink green tea survive longer. Women who drank at least one cup of green tea daily were 57% more apt to survive three years than non-green tea drinkers. (Min Zhang. Int J Cancer, 112:465-469(2004). Other new research in cell cultures finds that EGCG also inhibits activity that promotes colon cancer and liver cancer. How EGCG Short-Circuits CancerAmazingly, EGCG, animal studies show, can inhibit cancer at all three stages — from the first stage of mutations of cells' genetic material (DNA )that jumpstart malignancy; the the second promotion stage or appearance of symptoms such as tumors, and the third progression stage, the spread or metastasis of the cancer to other sites. EGCG works several ways, but new breakthrough research explains why EGCG is so universally anti-cancer. Scientists have discovered that EGCG can actually short-circuit cancer by blocking a cancer-triggering protein. And EGCG does it better than cancer drugs do, says Dr. Thomas A. Gasiewicz, University of Rochester Medical Center. "EGCG seems to target one protein that is particularly common throughout our bodies," says Gasiewicz, "and does so with a degree of precision that cancer drugs still aren't able to match." Further, he says, EGCG appears to prevent cancer by stopping the process before it can even get started in tissues and organs including breast, prostate, bladder, colon, stomach, pancreas and esophagus. Specifically, EGCG binds to and deactivates a protein called HSP90 that signals the start of the cancer process. "As a result, potentially harmful genes are less likely to get turned on, and the cascade of events leading to cancer is cut off before it begins," explains Dr. Gasiewicz. Drug companies are trying to develop pharmaceuticals that stop cancer the same way EGCG does, but so far have been unsuccessful, says the American Institute of Cancer Research in Washington. Why Capsules Over Brewed Tea?If you drink green tea, you get some EGCG, but you can't be sure how much. For optimal protection, you should also take capsules of concentrated green tea extract high in EGCG. Here's why:
Bottom Line: Green tea capsules are the most reliable way to get high doses of EGCG every day. Safety FactorCould long-term use of green tea be harmful? A recent study found no significant adverse effects from taking 800 milligrams a day of purified decaffeinated EGCG for a month. But for most people, 300 to 600 EGCG daily is sufficient, research suggests. Taking more may not be more effective and could lead to unknown side effects. 21 GREEN TEA MIRACLESMuch research shows that green tea and its most active ingredient, EGCG, have widespread antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity that may be beneficial to health in a variety of ways. Here is a compilation of recent scientific reports of green tea "miracles" from leading researchers around the world.
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