Studies evaluating the diets of large populations around the world have consistently associated the regular consumption of green tea with lower rates of cancer. Most of these studies credit this reduction to antioxidants in green tea, which are generally lost through oxidation during the production of black tea. Scientists have speculated that these antioxidants, known as flavonols, inhibit some of the processes involved in cancer development.
Now, researchers from Italy have confirmed those speculations in a laboratory experiment. Their study tested the effects of the main flavonol in green tea, called EGCG, on the development and spread of cancer. Results of the lab studies showed EGCG significantly inhibited the production of the two cancer causing compounds. Tumor cell invasion was reduced by 50% by EGCG concentrations similar to those found in the blood plasma of those of moderate green tea drinkers.
The researchers concluded that EGCG is a strong cancer-inhibitor that could be given in prescription form to achieve the same protection as that achieved by drinking green tea. In the meantime, you might want to start drinking green tea! And don’t forget that black tea (Orange Pekoe, Earl Grey, etc.) have flavonols too.
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