Chinese tea - Green tea plant

The results of research at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta indicated compounds in green tea selectively induced cell death only in oral cancer cells while ignoring normal cells.

The authors of the study conclude that green tea could inhibit, delay or even reverse cancer.

"Green tea appears to be chemopreventative, both before the onset of malignancy and following cancer treatment", states the study titled "Chemoprevention of Oral Cancer by Green Tea".

The study was published in the March/April 2001 issue of the journal "General Dentistry", which is published by the Academy of General Dentistry .

Although the research must be duplicated before green tea is labeled as a public health strategy and a bona-fide anti-cancer agent, lead study author/cell biologist Stephen Hsu said:

"The evidence of benefits appears to be sound, but we need a lot of different groups to agree on this and there is research going on in various places that will help answer that," he said, referring to a human trial at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Centre involving oral cancer and green tea.

Green tea is not just beneficial for cancer

Green tea also appears to be beneficial for heart disease: It lowers cholesterol, reduces platelet aggregation (clumping), and lowers blood pressure, all of which may contribute to a decreased risk of heart disease.

Evidence is increasing that consumption of this Chinese tea may have beneficial effects on prevention of several cancers in addition to oral cancer, including colon, pancreatic and stomach cancer.