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By Melissa Tennen, healthAtoZ writer
Stop! Put down that soft drink.
Here's something better.
Tea - a potentially powerful weapon in your fight against heart disease and cancer.
New research is unearthing a treasure of the many health benefits about this age-old beverage.
Adding to a growing body of research, more studies were presented at the Third International Scientific Symposium on Tea & Human Health, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the American College of Nutrition and other leading health organizations.
A study from the USDA Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center in Maryland shows tea consumption, when combined with low-fat and low-cholesterol diet, actually decreases LDL, or bad cholesterol, by 10 percent. Other new research published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association says people drinking four cups a day had a lower risk of death if they had a heart attack.
On the cancer front, another study says smokers who drank four cups of decaffeinated green and black teas had significantly lower levels of oxidative DNA damage, which most scientists believe is a cause in many cancers. (Antioxidants help prevent damage to cells.)
Another research report says women drinking tea have a 60 percent lower risk of rectal cancer, compared with women consuming relatively low amounts of tea.
So what's the science?
Good old Mother Nature. Tea contains antioxidants, which help the body get rid of free radicals, by-products of cells. Left unchecked, these radicals attack healthy cells, increasing the risk for cancer and cardiovascular disease. Flavanoids, a type of antioxidant in tea, are found in fruits, vegetables, wine and even dark chocolate.
"We are talking about a natural food that is free of calories and tastes good," says Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and chief of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.
Americans consume more than 50 billion servings of tea or 2.2 billion gallons of tea each year. That's enough to fill more than 160,000 backyard swimming pools. And each day, about one-half of the United States population drinks tea. Of all tea consumed in the United States, 90 percent is black and the remaining 10 percent is green.
But not all tea is created equal, Blumberg says. Herbal "teas" are made from different plants than black, green and oolong tea, which are all derived from the same plant. While herbal "teas" may have various effects, the health benefits of tea have been documented.
Watch out for the diet teas that contain senna, aloe, buckthorn and other plant-derived laxatives root in particular, warns Wahida Carmally, R.D., an American Dietetic Association spokeswoman. When consumed in excessive amounts, these herbs can cause diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach cramps, chronic constipation, fainting and perhaps death.
Also, the herb comfrey could be cancer-causing, she says.
Another nutrition expert, Gail Frank, estimates that 8 ounces of black, green or oolong with average steeping time can rival 1/2 to 1 cup of nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables.
"My concern would be for individuals to eat unhealthy foods and plan to wash them down with a quart of tea," says Frank, Dr. P.H., R.D., C.H.E.S., a professor of nutrition and director of the dietetic internship program at California State University-Long Beach and adjunct professor at the University of California-Irvine.
Blumberg notes that antioxidants are not addressed directly by the USDA Food Pyramid. No beverages except milk are included in this dietary guide. Yet most health experts advise people to eat foods rich in antioxidants and eight glasses of water a day. Tea is an ideal food satisfying those needs.
But it's not yet clear on how much tea people should be drinking.
"Since we are talking about a natural product that is free of calories and rich in dietary antioxidants, then it's fair to say that when choosing between soda or a cup of tea that tea is a more healthful choice," Blumberg says.
This article was reviewed April 2004, by Dennis C. Policastro, M.D., FACP, FACEP, Residency Program Director, Internal Medicine, Pennsylvania Hospital, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
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