Drinking green tea may assist with avoiding colorectal cancer
Sunday, May 18th, 2008Regularly drinking antioxidant-rich green tea may halve the risk of colon and rectal cancer, suggests a new study based in China.
The results add to an ever-growing body of science linking consumption to a wide range of health benefits, including lower risk of certain cancers, increased weight loss, improved heart health, and protection against Alzheimer’s.
Green tea contains between 30 and 40 per cent of water-extractable polyphenols, while black tea (green tea that has been oxidized by fermentation) contains between 3 and 10 per cent.
The four primary polyphenols found in fresh tealeaves are epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epicatechin.
The new study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, looked at the link between green tea consumption and the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) among 69,710 Chinese women aged between 40 and 70.
There are 363,000 new cases of colorectal cancer every year in Europe, with an estimated 945,000 globally. About 492,000 deaths occur from the cancer each year.