NOW Foods - Green Tea Found to Preserve Colon Health

Green Tea Found to Preserve Colon Health

By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, June 8, 2007, abstracted from “Prospective Cohort Study of Green Tea Consumption and Colorectal Cancer Risk in Women” in the 2007 issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention

Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world second only to water.¹ It is believed that drinking tea “could have large implications forpublic health”² because of the polyphenols found in high amounts in tea, especially in green tea. Polyphenols have been thought to act as “chemopreventive agents” against cardiovascular diseaseand cancer.^(3,4)

But interest in tea’s health effects has recently focused significantly on the digestive system, because of tea’s high bioavailability⁵ and the fact that tea has direct contact with the organs of the digestive system when taken orally. Previous research has shown that increased tea consumption decreases the risk of a number digestive tract diseases, including throat,⁶ stomach,⁷ pancreatic⁸ and colon⁹ cancer. Now a new study¹⁰has found that drinking green tea may also help preserve colon health.

In the study, researchers assessed questionnaires from women who participated in the Shanghai Women’s Health Study.¹¹ They found that compared to those who did not drink green tea, those who drank green tea daily had a 37% decreased risk of colorectal cancer. Specifically, each 1.67-g increase (the amount of tea in 1 tea bag) in daily green tea consumptionwas associated with a 10% reduction in colorectal cancer risk.

For the researchers, this study “provides one of the strongest pieces of evidence inhumans that regular consumption of green tea may confer a protectionagainst [colorectal cancer].”

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:ChiroDocPSUalum@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com

Reference:

¹ Kris-Etherton PM, Keen CL. Evidence that the antioxidant flavonoids in tea and cocoa are beneficial for cardiovascular health. Curr Opin Lipidol. 2002;13:41-49

² Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ. Diet, lifestyle, and longevity—the next steps? JAMA. 2004;292:1490-1492

³ Zaveri NT. Green tea and its polyphenolic catechins: medicinal uses in cancer and noncancer applications. Life Sci. 2006;78:2073-2080

⁴ Kuriyama S. Green Tea Consumption and Mortality Due to Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and All Causes in Japan: The Ohsaki Study. JAMA, September 13, 2006; 296: 1255 – 1265

⁵ Lambert JD, Hong J, Yang GY, Liao J, Yang CS. Inhibition of carcinogenesis by polyphenols: evidence from laboratory investigations. Am J Clin Nutr 2005;81:284–91S

⁶ Gao YT, McLaughlin JK, Blot WJ, Ji BT, Dai Q, Fraumeni JF, Jr. Reduced risk of esophageal cancer associated with green tea consumption. J Natl Cancer Inst 1994;86:855–8

⁷ Ji BT, Chow WH, Yang G, et al. The influence of cigarette smoking, alcohol, and green tea consumption on the risk of carcinoma of the cardia and distal stomach in Shanghai, China. Cancer 1996;77:2449–57

⁸ Ji BT, Chow WH, Hsing AW, et al. Green tea consumption and the risk of pancreatic and colorectal cancers. Int J Cancer 1997;70:255–8

⁹ Yang G, Gao Y, Ji B. Dietary factors and cancer of the colon and rectum in a population based case-control study in Shanghai. Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi 1994;15:299–303

¹⁰ Yong G. Prospective Cohort Study of Green Tea Consumption and Colorectal Cancer Risk in Women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007 16: 1219-1223 doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-07-0097

¹¹ Zheng W, Chow WH, Yang G, et al. The Shanghai Women's Health Study: rationale, study design, and baseline characteristics. Am J Epidemiol 2005;162:1123–31

Disclaimer: Claims made by NOW Foods for Green Tea are regulated by the FDA, and any claims made in the above article are not made by NOW Foods. NOW makes no claims for the effect of Green Tea on colon health.