Green Tea or Black for Preventing Breast Cancer?

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Article Title:

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Green Tea or Black for Preventing Breast Cancer?

Article Description:

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In recent years there has been an abundance of research

investigating the benefits of green and black tea on preventing

disease. And, the results have been divided. Depending on the

health condition being evaluated, some studies have shown green

tea to be more effective, while others have shown green and black

tea to be equally effective.

Additional Article Information:

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810 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2007-02-05 10:12:00

Written By: Jon M. Stout

Copyright: 2007

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Green Tea or Black for Preventing Breast Cancer?

Copyright © 2007 Jon M. Stout

Golden Moon Tea

http://www.GoldenMoonTea.com

In recent years there has been an abundance of research

investigating the benefits of green and black tea on preventing

disease. And, the results have been divided. Depending on the

health condition being evaluated, some studies have shown green

tea to be more effective, while others have shown green and black

tea to be equally effective.

Green tea differs from black in its processing. Both come from

the Camellia sinensis plant, but black tea is fermented when

processed. This fermentation changes some of the tea plant's

compounds, and effectively reduces some of the most important

anti-oxidants, namely EGCG, one of the most important

anti-oxidants you can consume. However, black tea does still

contain many other important anti-oxidants.

When it comes to preventing many forms of disease, EGCG seems to

be an important component, making green tea the drink of choice.

In addition, the reason tea came into focus in the first place

was the noticeably lower rates of disease in Asian countries,

where tea is consumed in large quantities - most of it green

tea.

One of the diseases that tea is reported to prevent is breast

cancer. Several studies have shown that tea, green in particular,

seems to significantly lower your chances of developing breast

cancer. Some studies have even suggested that green tea could

even be an effective treatment for breast cancer.

One study conducted on breast cancer patients undergoing

chemotherapy noted that those participants who regularly consumed

green tea during their chemotherapy treatments showed higher

concentrations of the chemotherapy drugs in their cancer cells

than those who did not consume green tea.

Other studies have indicated that green tea can inhibit the

growth of cancer cells, possibly preventing the spread of the

disease. And, additional studies have shown that green tea may

prevent the recurrence of breast cancer in patients diagnosed at

Stage I or II of the disease.

But, what about black tea? Why have similar results not been

shown with the consumption of green tea? The theory is that it

has to do with hormones.

Green tea is thought to reduce certain circulating sex-steroid

hormones, such as estone and estradiol, and that black tea may

increase the levels of these hormones. If the reduction in breast

cancer risk is due to the lower level of these sex-steroid

hormones, then it's easy to see why green tea is more effective

at preventing breast cancer than black tea.

One study in Singapore evaluated a cross section of 130 healthy

post-menopausal Chinese women. Their tea consumption broke down

like this:

* 84 were non or irregular tea drinkers – meaning they drank tea

less than once a week.

* 27 were regular green tea drinkers – meaning they drank green

tea weekly or daily

* 19 were regular black tea drinkers

The study concluded that, relative to the estrone levels in the

non tea drinkers, the green tea drinkers showed a lower estrone

level, and the black tea drinkers showed a higher estrone level.

In fact, the green tea drinkers showed a 13% lower estrone level,

and the black tea drinkers showed a 19% higher level of estrone

than those who did not drink tea. A similar relationship was

found between tea drinking habits and estradiol levels.

While this study alone cannot be considered conclusive, it does

suggest that, if high levels of circulating sex steroids increase

the risk of breast cancer, green tea is a much better

preventative than black tea.

Most researchers agree that having high levels of circulating

hormones like estrogen (which is made up of estradiol and

estrone) after menopause does increase your risk of breast

cancer. This is why women who take hormone supplements to help

ease the symptoms of menopause have an increased risk of

developing cancer over women who do not treat their menopausal

symptoms with hormones like estrogen therapy.

So, if you've experienced menopause and you're at an increased

risk for breast cancer, talk to your doctor about tea drinking.

Particularly if you drink large quantities of black tea, it might

be wise to reduce this amount, and replace it with green tea.

It's clear that we don't fully understand the relationship

between tea and breast cancer, and that much more research should

be performed. However, we do have a pretty clear picture that

green tea prevents many forms of cancer, breast cancer among

them.

So, it's probably a good idea to keep drinking your green tea.

While it's true that we don't have all the answers, it does

seem clear that green tea offers many health benefits and that

drinking it is a healthy habit that all of us should get into.

Green tea is delicious, refreshing and widely available. All of

these attributes make green tea a simple way to improve our

health and reduce the risk of certain diseases. So, make a cup of

green tea, and drink to your health!

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Jon M. Stout is the Chairman of the Golden Moon Tea Company.

Golden Moon Tea carefully selects the finest rare and orthodox

teas, which are processed slowly and handcrafted with extreme

care. At their website, you can learn more about their current

tea offerings, including their exceptional green tea

(http://www.goldenmoontea.com/greentea), white tea, black

tea, oolong tea (also known as wu-long and wu long tea -

http://www.goldenmoontea.com/wu-long) and chai. Visit

http://www.goldenmoontea.com for all details concerning

the Golden Moon Tea Company's fine line of teas.