Green Tea Cancer Research - What Has Been Found?
Green tea cancer research
lead scientists to consider that green tea's ability to fight cancer is even more powerful than at first thought. What is known definitively is that in green tea, as opposed to black or white, are chemical compounds called polyphenols or antioxidants , which includes EGCG (epigallocatechin-gallate).
EGCG is the compound that is thought to be largely responsible for the miraculous effect on cancer prevention and inhibition of tumor growth.
A molecule known as the aryl hydrocarbon (AH) receptor, has the ability to activate genes - but not always in a positive way.
Tobacco smoke and dioxins, in particular, disrupt the functioning of the molecule and cause it to trigger potentially harmful gene activity.
This is how it becomes a key molecule in the development of cancer. A team from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, found that EGCG helps stop AH activity.
This compound is similar to the flavonoids found in broccoli, cabbage, grapes and red wine that are also known to prevent cancer.
The team showed that EGCG shuts down the AH receptor in mice cells. Early indications are that the same is true in human cells.
But these studies have to be followed up with lots more testing before we can say that everyone should start drinking lots of green tea every day.
The causes of cancer are complex - both genetic and environmental, and more study needs to be done, caution investigators.
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