I think we should
be consuming more epigallocatechin-gallate. Well that tongue-twisting
name is raising a few eyebrows. Why? Because scientists
think that this may be an important weapon in the war against heart
disease and cancer. And you know what? You don't
have to swallow any strange pills, or guzzle concoctions in order
to get it. All you have to do is lift a cup of tea.
You know this
chemical I told you about epigallocatechin-gallate, very interesting.
It's part of a family of substances called polyphenols. And
we're really interested in these for various reasons. First
of all, a epidemiological study which look at populations around
the world, have revealed that those people who have consumed a lot
of tea, particularly the green tea, are less prone to certain kinds
of cancer. Then we have some laboratory evidence. In
the laboratory in test tubes, it is possible to produce free radicals.
These are the same kind of species that the human body produces,
and they're not very good. We add tea to these test tubes
and the tea neutralizes the effect of these free radicals.
That's a very comforting idea. Then we have some evidence
with laboratory animals. It turns out that if we expose them
to cancer causing substances, they are protected against cancer
if they have consumed tea. What about humans? That's
the real question.
Well there have
been some interesting interventions studies in humans as well.
Chinese researchers have looked at patients who had pre-cancerous
lesions in their mouth. Commonly, these lesions go on to really
become cancer. Well, half of these patients were exposed to
extracts of green and black tea, the others got a placebo.
And it turned out that those who were exposed to the tea, went on
to produce far fewer cancers than those who were exposed to the
placebo. That's interesting stuff. If you're still not
putting the kettle on, just think of this. Tea is also very
good as a cavity fighter. It destroys the bacteria on our
teeth, which cause cavities. Is there a downside? Well
tea does have some caffeine although much, much less than coffee.
So I've considered all of this and I've decided that tea drinking
is a good thing. I like green tea. It has more polyphenols
and it has a very interesting taste once you get used to it.
So starting each day and ending it with a cuppa, seems to be a good
scientific thing to do.
