Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 5/30/12.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

New approach to regulating probiotics recommended - Science Daily, 5/24/12 - "the regulatory system in the US maintains that any product that claims to impact disease must be categorized as a drug. Therefore, scientists can't test if a probiotic yogurt relieves patients with inflammatory bowel disease without first registering the yogurt as a drug ... this regulation has halted a lot of great research on probiotics in North America and has ramifications for probiotic research and development in Europe"

Alprostadil Shows Efficacy in Female Sexual Arousal Disorder - Medscape, 5/25/12 - "female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) ... satisfactory sexual events (SSEs) ... Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) ... Global Assessment Questionnaire (GAQ) ... Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS) ... SSEs improved with the alprostadil cream at all doses, with a significant improvement (P = .0002) observed with the highest (900 mcg) dose (46.3%, 43.5%, and 53.9% for 500 mcg, 700 mcg, and 900 mcg, respectively, compared with 33.1% in the placebo group). The 900-mcg dose also resulted in significant improvements in FSFI, GAQ, and FSDS scores compared with women receiving placebo"

Consumer Reports Rates Best Sunscreen Buys - WebMD, 5/25/12 - "All Terrain Aqua Sport lotion, SPF 30 ... Banana Boat clear ultra-mist sports performance active dry protect spray, SPF 30 ... Coppertone sport high performance ultra sweat-proof spray, SPF 30 ... Eco all natural sunscreen body lotion, SPF 30"

More physical education in schools leads to better grades, study suggests - Science Daily, 5/23/12 - "96 percent of the intervention group compared to 89 percent in the control group achieved the goals of compulsory school and were eligible to go on to upper-secondary school. It is primarily the boys' achievements -- with 96 percent vs. 83 percent -- that lies behind this outcome. Moreover, the boys in the intervention group had significantly higher grades in Swedish, English, Mathematics, and PE and health than the boys in the control group ... In grade 9, 93 percent of the students in the intervention group evinced good motor skills compared to 53 percent in the control group ... The study is unique. There are no previous findings that statistically show the effects and impact of an intervention over so many years. The reliability of the findings is further enhanced by the homogenity in the groups under investigation: the children are the same age, go to the same school, and have parents with comparable education, income, and interest in physical activity"

Socioeconomics may affect toddlers' exposure to flame retardants: Hand wipes indicate PBDE levels - Science Daily, 5/24/12 - "Studies have shown that over time, PBDEs migrate into the environment and accumulate in living organisms, where they can disrupt endocrine activity and impair thyroid regulation and brain development. Early exposure to PBDEs has been linked to low birth weight and impaired cognitive, motor and behavioral development. One study in 2010 showed that children with high levels of exposure to PBDEs scored lower on infant development and preschool IQ tests"

Calcium supplements linked to significantly increased heart attack risk, study suggests - Science Daily, 5/23/12 - "Normal diet for the preceding 12 months was assessed using food frequency questionnaires ... Their health was tracked for an average of 11 years ... After taking account of factors likely to influence the results, those whose diets included a moderate amount (820 mg daily) of calcium from all sources, including supplements, had a 31% lower risk of having a heart attack than those in the bottom 25% of calcium intake ... But those with an intake of more than 1100 mg daily did not have a significantly lower risk. There was no evidence that any level of calcium intake either protected against or increased the risk of stroke ... those who took calcium supplements regularly were 86% more likely to have a heart attack than those who didn't use any supplements ... And this risk increased further among those who used only calcium supplements. They were more than twice as likely to have a heart attack as those who didn't take any supplements"

Fever during pregnancy more than doubles the risk of autism or developmental delay - Science Daily, 5/23/12 - "the study is believed to be the first to consider how fever from any cause, including the flu, and its treatment during pregnancy could affect the likelihood of having a child with autism or developmental delay ... flu during pregnancy was not associated with greater risks of having a child with autism or developmental delay. Fever from any cause during pregnancy, however, was far more likely to be reported by mothers of children with autism (2.12 times higher odds) or developmental delay (2.5 times higher odds), as compared with mothers of children who were developing typically. For children of mothers who took anti-fever medication, the risk of autism was not different from the risk in children whose mothers reported no fever ... Other CHARGE evaluations have found that taking prenatal vitamins prior to and during the first month of pregnancy may help prevent autism and that living near a freeway or in areas with high regional air pollution is associated with higher risk of autism in children"

Children's body fat linked to Vitamin D insufficiency in mothers - Science Daily, 5/23/12 - "the children who were born to mothers who had low vitamin D status in pregnancy had more body fat when they were six years old. These differences could not be explained by other factors such as mother's weight gain in pregnancy, or how physically active the children were ... An interpretation of our data is that there could be programmed effects on the fetus arising from a lack of maternal vitamin D that remain with the baby and predispose him or her to gain excess body fat in later childhood" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Phthalates in PVC floors taken up by the body in infants - Science Daily, 5/23/12 - "Phthalates are a group of chemical compounds that occur in construction materials and a great number of common consumer goods such as toys, cleaning solvents, packaging, etc. Phthalates are suspected of disrupting hormones and may be related to several chronic diseases in children, like asthma and allergies, as shown in earlier studies. Flooring materials using softened PVC contain phthalates and have previously been shown to be a significant source of phthalates in indoor dust ... The levels of certain phthalates (MBzP, a BBzP metabolite) proved to be higher in the urine of babies that had PVC materials on their bedroom floor. The levels of another phthalate metabolite related to DEHP were lower in two-month-old children if they were exclusively breastfed, with no supplements ... Earlier studies from the current group have shown that PVC flooring can be tied to the occurrence of phthalates in indoor dust, and that exposure for BBzP in indoor dust could be associated with allergic conditions in children"

Office Germs: The 6 Dirtiest Work Places - WebMD, 5/22/12 - "75% of break room sink-faucet handles ... 48% of microwave door handles ... 27% of keyboards ... 26% of refrigerator door handles ... 23% of water fountain buttons ... 21% of vending machine buttons"

Uproar over prostate-cancer screenings explained - Science News, 5/22/12 - "Overall, they stuck to their guns, stating that a blood test commonly used to screen for prostate cancer, the PSA test, causes more harm than good -- it leads men to receive unnecessary, and sometimes even dangerous, treatments" - Err!!!  People have to have that info.  If they and their doctor decide on an overly aggressive treatment, that's their fault.  Click here for a news segment that basically says the same thing.  It's not the test, it's how people interpret the data and treat it.

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds (Click here for the journals, the PubMed ones at the top):

Metformin for Liver Cancer Prevention in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Apr 20 - "In meta-analyses, metformin was associated with an estimated 62% reduction in the risk of liver cancer among patients with type 2 diabetes ... When restricting the analysis to the four studies related to hepatocellular carcinoma, metformin was again associated with a significantly lower cancer risk (odds ratio 0.30, 95% confidence interval 0.17, 0.52; P < 0.001), and there was evidence of significant heterogeneity between these four studies" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store.

Low Dietary Vitamin D Predicts 34-Year Incident Stroke: The Honolulu Heart Program - Stroke. 2012 May 24 - "The Honolulu Heart Program is a prospective population-based cohort study of 8006 Japanese-American men in Hawaii who were 45 to 68 years old at the baseline examination in 1965 to 1968 ... 34 years of follow-up ... Age-adjusted rates of incident stroke were significantly higher in the lowest dietary vitamin D quartile compared with the highest (all stroke: 6.38 versus 5.14 per 1000 person-years follow-up, P=0.030; thromboembolic stroke: 4.36 versus 3.30, P=0.033). Using Cox regression, adjusting for age, total kilocalories, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, pack-years smoking, physical activity index, serum cholesterol, and alcohol intake, those in the lowest quartile had a significantly increased risk of incident stroke (all stroke hazard ratio, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.01-1.47; P=0.038; thromboembolic stroke hazard ratio, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.01-1.59; P=0.044) with the highest as the reference. We found no significant associations between dietary vitamin D and hemorrhagic stroke" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Dietary Sodium Intake and Cardiovascular Mortality: Controversy Resolved? - Am J Hypertens. 2012 May 25 - "Universal reduction in sodium intake has long been recommended, largely because of its proven ability to lower blood pressure for some. However, multiple randomized trials have also demonstrated that similar reductions in sodium increase plasma renin activity and aldosterone secretion, insulin resistance, sympathetic nerve activity, serum cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. Thus, the health consequences of reducing sodium cannot be predicted by its impact on any single physiologic characteristic but will reflect the net of conflicting effects. Some 23 observational studies (>360,000 subjects and >26,000 end points) linking sodium intake to cardiovascular outcomes have yielded conflicting results. In subjects with average sodium intakes of less than 4.5 g/day, most have found an inverse association of intake with outcome; in subjects with average intakes greater than 4.5 g/day, most reported direct associations. Finally, in two, a "J-shaped" relation was detected. In addition, three randomized trials have found that heart failure subjects allocated to 1.8 g of sodium have significantly increased morbidity and mortality compared with those at 2.8 g. At the same time, a randomized study in retired Taiwanese men found that allocation to an average intake of 3.8 g improved survival compared with 5.3 g. Taken together, these data provide strong support for a "J-shaped" relation of sodium to cardiovascular outcomes. Sodium intakes above and below the range of 2.5-6.0 g/day are associated with increased cardiovascular risk"

Spectroscopic Characterization of Lycopene Extract from Lycopersicum esculentum (Tomato) and Its Evaluation as a Chemopreventive Agent Against Experimental Hepatocarcinogenesis in Mice - Phytother Res. 2012 May 25 - "The present study was designed to characterize the lycopene extract (LycT) prepared from tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum) and then to evaluate its chemopreventive efficacy in N-diethylnitrosamine (NDEA)-induced experimental hepatocarcinogenesis in female Balb/c mice ... In the animal study, reduction in tumour incidence (42.05%), tumour burden (1.39) and tumour multiplicity (3.42) was observed upon LycT pretreatment to NDEA-treated animals. Histopathological analysis unravelled that the increased survival rate in LycT + NDEA-treated animals was due to the delay in the formation of aggressive tumour nodules. These observations indicate that lycopene seems to be an able candidate for chemoprevention in hepatocarcinogenesis resulting from NDEA insults" - See Jarrow Lyco-Sorb (contains Lyco-O-Mato) at Amazon.com.

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of breast cancer: results of a large population-based case-control study in Mexican women - Cancer Causes Control. 2012 May 24 - "Serum 25(OH)D concentration (per 10 ng/mL increase) showed a strong inverse association with risk of breast cancer among all (p (trend) = 0.001), pre- (p (trend) = 0.006) and postmenopausal women (p (trend) = 0.0001). Compared with a predefined lower concentration of 25(OH)D (<20 ng/mL), higher levels (>30 ng/mL) were associated with lower overall (OR = 0.53, 95 % CI: 0.28-1.00; p (trend) = 0.002), pre- (OR = 0.60, 95 % CI: 0.16-2.17; p (trend) = 0.07) and postmenopausal (OR = 0.37, 95 % CI: 0.16-0.82; p (trend) = 0.004) breast cancer risk" -

Dietary fibre intake and ischaemic heart disease mortality: the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Heart study - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2012 May 23 - "average follow-up of 11.5 years ... The calibrated intake of dietary fibre was inversely related with IHD mortality; each 10 g/day was associated with a 15% lower risk (relative risk (RR) 0.85; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.73-0.99, P=0.031). There was no difference in the associations of the individual food sources of dietary fibre with the risk of IHD mortality; RR for each 5 g/day higher cereal fibre intake was 0.91 (CI: 0.82-1.01), RR for each 2.5 g/day fruit fibre intake was 0.94 (CI: 0.88-1.01) and RR for each 2.5 g/day vegetable fibre intake was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.76-1.07).  Conclusion: A higher consumption of dietary fibre is associated with a lower risk of fatal IHD with no clear difference in the association with IHD for fibre from cereals, fruits or vegetables"

Dietary antioxidants and periodontal disease in community-based older Japanese: a 2-year follow-up study - Public Health Nutr. 2012 May 22:1-9 - "Intakes of dietary antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin E, α-carotene and β-carotene) were assessed with a validated FFQ ... A higher intake of dietary antioxidants was inversely associated with the number of teeth with periodontal disease progression, controlling for other variables. The multivariate-adjusted incidence rate ratios in the first, second and third tertiles were 1.00, 0.76 (95 % CI 0.60, 0.97) and 0.72 (95 % CI 0.56, 0.93) for vitamin C; 1.00, 0.79 (95 % CI 0.62, 0.99) and 0.55 (95 % CI 0.42, 0.72), for vitamin E; and 1.00, 1.02 (95 % CI 0.81, 1.29) and 0.73 (95 % CI 0.56, 0.95) for β-carotene" - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL at Amazon.com and Garden of Life, Radical Fruits Antioxidant Complex at Amazon.com.

Greater Percent-free Testosterone Is Associated With High-grade Prostate Cancer in Men Undergoing Prostate Biopsy - Urology. 2012 May 18 - "On multivariate analysis, testosterone (P ≥ .11) and free testosterone (P ≥ .45) were not significantly associated with low- or high-grade PCa. A greater %FT level significantly predicted high-grade PCa on both crude (P = .01) and multivariate (P = .02) analysis but not low-grade PCa (P ≥ .38). When examined in tertiles, men in the greatest %FT tertile had a significant twofold increased risk of high-grade PCa (odds ratio 2.04, 95% confidence interval 1.23-3.37, P = .005)"

Health Focus (Green Tea):

Specific Recommendations:

• green tea extract at Amazon.com
• green tea extract at Amazon.com

News & Research:

• Catechin-enriched green tea shows fat busting potential: RCT - Nutra USA, 2/17/12 - "Visceral fat levels decreased by 9.5 cm2 after twelve weeks of consuming the catechin-enriched beverage, compared with a control beverage with normal levels of green tea catechins" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Green tea may reduce functional disability risk: Study - Nutra USA, 1/27/12 - "Compared to people who drank less than one cup per day, at least five cups of the green tea was associated with a 33% reduction in functional disability" - [Abstract]
• Green tea extract may protect against muscle damage from exercise - Nutra USA, 12/8/11 - "Thirty-five were recruited and randomly assigned to receive either the green tea extract or placebo in combination with strength training ... Markers of oxidative stress like lipid hydroxyperoxides were seen to increase as a result of exercise, but only in the placebo group. No such increases were recorded in the green tea group" - [Abstract]
• Green tea helps mice keep off extra pounds - Science Daily, 10/4/11 - "in the current online version of Obesity, fed two groups of mice a high-fat diet. Mice that were fed Epigallocatechin-3-gallate -- EGCG -- a compound found in most green teas, along with a high-fat diet, gained weight 45 percent more slowly than the control group of mice eating the same diet without EGCG ... In addition to lower weight gain, the mice fed the green tea supplement showed a nearly 30 percent increase in fecal lipids, suggesting that the EGCG was limiting fat absorption ... A person would need to drink ten cups of green tea each day to match the amount of EGCG used in the study"
• Green tea is effective in treating genetic disorder and types of tumors, study suggests - Science Daily, 8/16/11 - "blocking GDH with green tea is very effective at killing two different kinds of tumors; glioblastomas, an aggressive type of brain tumor, and tuberous sclerosis complex disorder, a genetic disease that causes non-malignant tumors to grow on a number of organs"
• Green tea shows body weight and fat benefits: Rat study - Nutra USA, 3/30/11 - "Rats consuming green tea along with a high fat diet gained less body weight and accumulated less fat than animals not supplemented with tea, says a new study ... Consuming the equivalent of five to eight cups of green tea a day was associated with a 5.6 percent decrease in body weight gain, and a 17.8 percent decrease in fat accumulation over eight weeks" - [Abstract]
• Statins may prevent diabetic-related blindness, study suggests - Science Daily, 2/17/11 - "In a related study, also in the March edition of the journal Diabetologia, El-Remessy and her colleagues found that epicathecin, a component of green tea, also prevented the adverse actions of proNGF in the retina. It does not affect the maturation of proNGF into NGF, explained El-Remessy, but regulated a receptor downstream that proNGF uses to send a signal to kill the neuron. Epicathechin prevents the death by inhibiting that receptor. "We are still getting the same result, that we are preventing neuronal death and restoring neuronal function, but just in a different way,""
• Green, but Not Black, Tea May Reduce Risk for Coronary Artery Disease - Medscape, 1/27/11 - "The meta-analysis showed no significant association between black tea intake and the risk for CAD (highest vs lowest consumption, summary relative risk [RR], 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82 - 1.04; for an increase of 1 cup/day, summary RR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.94 - 1.02). The summary RR for green tea showed a significant association between the highest intake of green tea and a lower risk for CAD (summary RR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.58 - 0.89). Increased green tea intake by 1 cup per day was associated with a 10% reduction in the risk for the development of CAD (summary RR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.82 - 0.99) .... Green tea catechins have been shown to inhibit oxidation, vascular inflammation, atherogenesis, and thrombogenesis and to favorably modulate the plasma lipid profile and vascular reactivity, which suggests a wide spectrum of beneficial effects on CAD. Because of the different degrees of fermentation, the content and composition of catechins vary substantially between green and black tea"
• Protective properties of green tea uncovered - Science Daily, 1/5/11 - "Regularly drinking green tea could protect the brain against developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia ... The study, published in the academic journal Phytomedicine, also suggests this ancient Chinese remedy could play a vital role in protecting the body against cancer"
• Blueberries and other purple fruits to ward off Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's - Science Daily, 12/7/10 - "Eating purple fruits such as blueberries and drinking green tea can help ward off diseases including Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's ... the majority of debilitating illnesses are in part caused by poorly-bound iron which causes the production of dangerous toxins that can react with the components of living systems ... These toxins, called hydroxyl radicals, cause degenerative diseases of many kinds in different parts of the body ... In order to protect the body from these dangerous varieties of poorly-bound iron, it is vital to take on nutrients, known as iron chelators, which can bind the iron tightly" - See blueberry extract at Amazon.com.
• Sugar and Your Skin - ABC News, 11/30/10 - It's a video.  He talks about glycation, fish oil, sugar, green tea, etc.  Things I've had in my newsletters for years.  See those pages.
• Green tea may protect DNA from damage: Human study - Nutra USA, 9/3/10 - "Analysis of these bodily fluids showed a 20 percent reduction in DNA damage, measured using the formamidopyrimidine glycosylase (Fpg) enzyme-assisted comet assay" - [Abstract] - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Polyphenol antioxidants inhibit iron absorption - Science Daily, 8/23/10 - "eating certain polyphenols decreased the amount of iron the body absorbs, which can increase the risk of developing an iron deficiency ... People already at risk for iron deficiency increase that risk if they consume high amounts of grape seed extract or EGCG" - See iron supplements at Amazon.com.
• Green tea extract appears to keep cancer in check in majority of CLL patients - Science Daily, 6/4/10 - "the blood lymphocyte (leukemia cell) count was reduced in one-third of participants, and that the majority of patients who entered the study with enlarged lymph nodes due to involvement by CLL saw a 50 percent or greater reduction in their lymph node size ... 31 percent of patients had a 20 percent or greater sustained reduction in blood leukemia count, and 69 percent of patients with enlarged lymph nodes saw a reduction of node size of 50 percent or greater" - It says 6/4/10 but it just showed up.  I think it's a misprint.
• Nutrient blend improves function of aging brain: rat study - Nutra USA, 7/21/10 - "NT-020 is a combination of blueberry, green tea extract, carnosine and vitamin D3 ... The NT-020 group demonstrated increased adult neural stem cell proliferation in the two main stem cell niches in the brains and improvement in learning and memory"
• Natural substance NT-020 aids aging brains in rats, study finds - Science Daily, 7/20/10 - "Aging has been linked to oxidative stress, and we have previously shown that natural compounds made from blueberries, green tea, and amino acids, such as carnosine, are high in antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative activity .... The combination of these nutrients, called NT-020, creates a synergistic effect that promotes the proliferation of stem cells in the aged animals ... NT-020 may have not only a positive effect on the stem cell niche ... NT-020 may have far-reaching effects on organ function beyond the replacement of injured cells, as demonstrated by cognitive improvement in the NT-020 group"
• Regular Tea Consumption May Slow Cognitive Decline - Medscape, 7/12/10 - "Participants who drank tea 5 to 10 times per year, 1 to 3 times per month, 1 to 4 times per week, or 5 or more times per week had average annual rates of cognitive decline that were 17%, 32%, 37%, and 26% lower, respectively, than those of non-tea-drinkers"
• Polyphenols in red wine and green tea halt prostate cancer growth, study suggests - Science Daily, 6/9/10 - "The profound impact that the antioxidants in red wine and green tea have on our bodies is more than anyone would have dreamt just 25 years ago," Weissmann added. "As long as they are taken in moderation, all signs show that red wine and green tea may be ranked among the most potent 'health foods' we know." - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com and green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Green tea extract effective for weight loss at low doses - Nutra USA, 4/9/10 - "during two hours after a meal, the low-dose EGCG supplementation was associated with a 33 per cent increase in fat oxidation. The high-dose EGCG supplementation produced a non-significant 20 per cent increase, compared to placebo. Caffeine alone was associated with a 34.5 per cent increase, compared with placebo, while the combined EGCG/ /caffeine supplement boosted fat oxidation by 49 per cent ... during two hours after a meal, the low-dose EGCG supplementation was associated with a 33 per cent increase in fat oxidation. The high-dose EGCG supplementation produced a non-significant 20 per cent increase, compared to placebo. Caffeine alone was associated with a 34.5 per cent increase, compared with placebo, while the combined EGCG/ /caffeine supplement boosted fat oxidation by 49 per cent. “There is no synergism of low EGCG and 200 mg caffeine,” " - [Abstract]
• Green tea may boost oral health, reduce tooth loss - Nutra USA, 3/17/10 - "analysed data from 25,078 people aged between 40 to 64 years. By measuring tooth loss in people with up to 20 teeth still remaining, the researchers calculated that one to two cups of green tea per day was associated with an 18 per cent reduction in tooth loss risk. The same reduction was calculted for three to four cups per day, while five or more cups was associated with a 23 per cent reduction in risk ... The researchers noted that the a certain level of tea was required to produce the effect" - [Abstract]
• Green Tea Good for the Eyes? - WebMD, 2/18/10 - "the compounds responsible for many of the health benefits of green tea are capable of penetrating the tissues of the eyes and have antioxidant activity there ... catechins are among a number of antioxidants, including vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein, and zeaxanthin, thought to help protect the delicate tissues of the eye from glaucoma and other eye diseases. But until now it wasn't known if the catechins in green tea were capable of being absorbed into the tissues of the eye ... The results showed that different parts of the eye absorbed varying amounts of catechins. The area with the highest concentration of catechins was the retina, which is the light-sensing tissue that lines the back of the eye" - [Science Daily]
• Drinking Tea May Trim Men's Waistlines - WebMD, 1/29/10 - "In men, the use of sugar in tea was associated with a nearly 1-inch smaller waist measurement, but the use of artificial sweeteners was linked to a nearly 2-inch larger waistline ... Among women, the use of milk in tea was associated with a two-thirds-of-an-inch smaller waistline. But women who used artificial sweeteners had an average of nearly an inch larger waistline"
• Green Tea Extract May Treat Uterine Fibroids - WebMD, 1/26/10 - "In test tube studies with rodent fibroid cells, cells treated with EGCG grew more slowly and were smaller after 48-72 hours. EGCG also prompted fibroid cell death. The researchers write that it is "highly encouraging that, in our work, a relatively modest dose of EGCG ... that was delivered in drinking water was successful in inducing a dramatic and sustained reduction in fibroid tumor size up to eight weeks after treatment." ... The researchers say their study suggests that EGCG "might be particularly useful for long-term use in women with a low fibroid tumor burden to arrest tumor progression and avoid the development of severe symptoms that necessitate major surgery"
• Green Tea May Cut Smokers' Lung Cancer Risk - WebMD, 1/12/10 - "Overall, the smokers and nonsmokers who didn't drink green tea had a more than five times greater risk of lung cancer compared to those who had at least a cup of green tea"
• Green Tea Drinking in Elderly Linked to Lower Risk for Depression - Medscape, 12/29/09 - "Compared with green tea consumption of 1 or less cup per day, odds ratios for mild and severe depressive symptoms were 0.96 for 2 to 3 cups (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66 - 1.42) and 0.56 for 4 or more cups of green tea per day (95% CI, 0.39 - 0.81; P for trend = .001), after adjustment for confounding factors. Similar associations were seen for severe depressive symptoms"
• Coffee, Tea May Stall Diabetes - WebMD, 12/14/09 - "researchers found each additional cup of coffee drunk per day was associated with a 7% lower risk of diabetes. People who drank three to four cups per day had about a 25% lower risk than those who drank two or fewer cups per day ... The study also showed that people who drank more than three to four cups of decaffeinated coffee per day had about a one-third lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who didn’t drink any ... Tea drinkers who drank more than three to four cups of tea per day had about a one-fifth lower risk of diabetes than those who didn’t drink tea" - [Science Daily]
• Green tea chemical combined with another may hold promise for treatment of brain disorders - Science Daily, 12/3/09 - "Scientists at Boston Biomedical Research Institute (BBRI) and the University of Pennsylvania have found that combining two chemicals, one of which is the green tea component EGCG, can prevent and destroy a variety of protein structures known as amyloids. Amyloids are the primary culprits in fatal brain disorders such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases"
• Green Tea May Prevent Kidney Stones - WebMD, 11/20/09 - "The results showed that as the amount of green tea extract applied increased, the calcium oxalate crystals became flatter and flatter ... Researchers say flatter crystals form less stable kidney stones that break up more easily"
• Antifibrotic effects of green tea - Science Daily, 11/18/09 - "The researchers drew a conclusion that green tea may protect liver cells and reduce the deposition of collagen fibers in the liver. Green tea provides a safe and effective strategy for improving hepatic fibrosis"
• Green Tea Shows Promise As Chemoprevention Agent For Oral Cancer - Science Daily, 11/5/09 - "Green tea extract has shown promise as cancer prevention agent for oral cancer in patients with a pre-malignant condition known as oral leukoplakia ... more than half of the oral leukoplakia patients who took the extract had a clinical response ... The extract's lack of toxicity is attractive"
• New Evidence That Green Tea May Help Improve Bone Health - Science Daily, 9/16/09 - "The scientists exposed a group of cultured bone-forming cells (osteoblasts) to three major green tea components — epigallocatechin (EGC), gallocatechin (GC), and gallocatechin gallate (GCG) — for several days. They found that one in particular, EGC, boosted the activity of a key enzyme that promotes bone growth by up to 79 percent. EGC also significantly boosted levels of bone mineralization in the cells, which strengthens bones. The scientists also showed that high concentrations of ECG blocked the activity of a type of cell (osteoclast) that breaks down or weakens bones. The green tea components did not cause any toxic effects to the bone cells, they note"
• Green tea slashes heart disease death - Nutra USA, 9/8/09 - "Compared to people who drank less than one cup a day, seven or more cups of green tea a day may reduce the risk of dying from heart disease by a whopping 75 per cent ... Additionally, a reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer mortality of 31 per cent was observed for people who drank more than seven cups of green a day, compared to people who frank less than three cups a day" - [Abstract]
• Tea consumers may have younger biological age - Nutra USA, 8/25/09 - "The study’s findings are based on the telomere lengths of 976 Chinese men and 1,030 Chinese women aged over 65. The participants’ dietary habits were evaluated using a food frequency questionnaire ... Overall, only tea consumption was associated with telomere length. The highest intakes, three cups or 750 millilitres per day, was associated with significantly longer telomere lengths, compared to people who drank 70 millilitres per day or less, said the researchers" - [Abstract] - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• White Tea Could Keep You Healthy And Looking Young - Nutra USA, 8/10/09
• Green tea extracts linked to healthier bones: Study - Nutra USA, 8/6/09 - "EGC was found to stimulate bone mineralisation, while simultaneously inhibiting the formation of osteoclasts. The other catechins were found to have a significantly weaker effect ... “The present study illustrated that the tea catechins, EGC in particular, had positive effects on bone metabolism through a double process of promoting osteoblastic activity and inhibiting osteoclast differentiations" - [Abstract]
• Green tea may protect against blood cell cancer - Nutra USA, 7/31/09 - "Drinking five or more cups of green tea per day may reduce the risk of blood- and lymph-based cancers by about 50 per cent ... Compared to people who drank only one cup per day, five cups of green tea a day were associated with a 42 per cent reduction in hematologic malignancies, and a 48 per cent risk reduction in lymphoid neoplasms" - [Abstract]
• Green Tea May Slow Prostate Cancer Progression - Science Daily, 6/19/09 - "According to results of a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, men with prostate cancer who consumed the active compounds in green tea demonstrated a significant reduction in serum markers predictive of prostate cancer progression ... Findings showed a significant reduction in serum levels of HGF, VEGF and PSA after treatment, with some patients demonstrating reductions in levels of greater than 30 percent"
• Green Tea Extract Shows Promise In Leukemia Trials - Science Daily, 5/26/09 - "We found not only that patients tolerated the green tea extract at very high doses, but that many of them saw regression to some degree of their chronic lymphocytic leukemia ... majority of individuals who entered the study with enlarged lymph nodes saw a 50 percent or greater decline in their lymph node size"
• Green Tea's EGCG Molecule Blocks HIV Infection - WebMD, 5/18/09
• White Tea: Solution To Obesity Epidemic? - Science Daily, 5/7/09 - "After treating lab-cultured human pre-adipocytes with the tea extract, the authors found that fat incorporation during the genesis of new adipocytes was reduced ... The extract solution induced a decrease in the expression of genes associated with the growth of new fat cells, while also prompting existing adipocytes to break down the fat they contain ... It is less processed than the other teas and contains more of the ingredients thought to be active on human cells, such as methylxanthines (like caffeine) and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) – which the authors believe to be responsible for many of the anti-adipogenic effects demonstrated in their study"
• Tea For The Treatment Of Type-2 Diabetes - Science Daily, 5/5/09 - "The research subjects drank 750ml of tea each day. The cure appears to differentiate itself from other current type-2 diabetes treatments because the tea does not initially affect the sugar content of the blood. But after four months of treatment with tea we can, however, see a significant increase in glucose tolerance ... 'n the patient group who drank the tea, the number of polyunsaturated fatty acids increased. That is good for the body's cells because the polyunsaturated fat causes the cell membranes to be more permeable, which results in the cells absorbing glucose better from the blood"
• Study: Drinking Too-Hot Tea May Raise Esophageal Cancer Risk - WebMD, 3/26/09 - "hot tea drinkers were twice as likely as warm or lukewarm tea drinkers to have esophageal cancer"
• Drink Green Tea For Healthy Teeth And Gums - Science Daily, 3/5/09 - "those who regularly drank green tea had superior periodontal health than subjects that consumed less green tea ... Green tea's ability to help reduce symptoms of periodontal disease may be due to the presence of the antioxidant catechin. Previous research has demonstrated antioxidants' ability to reduce inflammation in the body, and the indicators of periodontal disease measured in this study, PD, CAL and BOP, suggest the existence of an inflammatory response to periodontal bacteria in the mouth"
• Green, Black Tea Can Reduce Stroke Risk, Research Suggests - Science Daily, 3/4/09 - "By drinking three cups of tea a day, the risk of a stroke was reduced by 21 percent. It didn't matter if it was green or black tea ... the effect appears to be linear ... researchers have speculated that the antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) or the amino acid theanine may be what helps. Antioxidants are believed to help prevent coronary artery disease ... we do know that theanine is nearly 100-percent absorbed .... It gets across the blood-brain barrier and it looks a lot like a molecule that's very similar to glutamate, and glutamate release is associated with stroke" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com and theanine at Amazon.com.
• Green tea may protect against breast cancer: Study - Science Daily, 1/27/09 - "Regular consumption of the beverage was associated with a “slightly decreased risk for breast cancer” of 12 per cent" - [Abstract]
• Green tea catechins linked to weight loss: Study - Nutra USA, 1/26/09 - "The subjects were randomly assigned to receive either 500ml per day of a beverage providing 625mg catechins, or a control beverage ... 12-week study period ... people in the catechin group were found to have lost more body weight compared to the control group ... both total abdominal fat area (P = 0.013) and abdominal subcutaneous fat area (P = 0.019) had decreased more in the catechin group" - [Abstract]
• Hibiscus Tea May Cut Blood Pressure - WebMD, 11/10/08 - "Overall, drinking hibiscus tea blends lowered systolic blood pressure -- the top number in the blood pressure reading -- by an average of 7 points. That was significantly more than the 1-point drop observed in people who were given a placebo in the form of hibiscus-flavored water"
• Tea Drinking May Help Preserve Hip Structure in Elderly Women - Medscape, 10/29/08 - "The cross-sectional analysis revealed that mean total hip aBMD was 2.8% greater in tea drinkers ... Compared with non–tea drinkers, tea drinkers had a significantly higher aBMD at the total hip and trochanter sites but not at the femoral neck and intertrochanter sites"
• Green Tea May Delay Onset Of Type 1 Diabetes - Science Daily, 10/23/08 - "EGCG modulates several important genes, so it suppresses the abnormality at the molecular level in the salivary gland. It also significantly lowered the serum autoantibodies, reducing the severity of Sjogren's syndrome-like symptoms ... Autoantibodies are antibodies the body makes against itself ... Both type 1 diabetes and Sjogren's syndrome are autoimmune diseases, which cause the body to attack itself"
• Flavonoids’ heart health benefits in the blood vessels: Study - Nutra USA, 10/10/08 - "A daily dose of quercetin or (-)-epicatechin led to improvements in endothelial function, a key marker of cardiovascular health" - [Abstract]
• As Head And Neck Cancer Risks Evolve, More Treatment Options Emerge - Science Daily, 9/10/08 - "a compound from green tea enhances the effects of a FDA-approved drug (erlotinib) against head and neck cancer cells in animals, suggesting that it could work similarly in humans. The results are published in the September issue of International Journal of Cancer ... More than two-thirds of patients come to doctors with locally and regionally advanced disease, and their prognoses are dismal ... But head and neck cancers are potentially curable when diagnosed at an early stage" - Note:  I took about 8 capsules of green tea extract per day when I had my neck cancer.  Maybe that's one of the things that save me.
• Tea Drinking May Help Protect Against Cognitive Impairment and Decline - Medscape, 7/14/08 - "Independent of other risk factors, total tea intake was significantly associated with a lower prevalence of cognitive impairment, defined as an MMSE score of 23 or less. Compared with ORs for rare or no tea intake, ORs for low, medium, and high levels of tea intake were 0.56 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.40 - 0.78), 0.45 (95% CI, 0.27 - 0.72), and 0.37 (95% CI, 0.14 - 0.98), respectively"
• Green tea's heart benefits gain support - Nutra USA, 7/7/08 - "Regular consumption of green tea may improve the function of endothelial cells - cells lining the walls of blood vessels - and boost cardiovascular health, according to new research from Greece" - [Abstract] - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Benefits Of Green Tea In Reducing An Important Risk Factor For Heart Disease - [WebMD] - Science Daily, 7/2/08 - "More evidence for the beneficial effect of green tea on risk factors for heart disease has emerged in a new study. The study found that the consumption of green tea rapidly improves the function of (endothelial) cells lining the circulatory system; endothelial dysfunction is a key event in the progression of atherosclerosis"
• Dietary Agents for Chemoprevention of Prostate Cancer - oncologystat.com, 6/16/08 - "In this review, we have summarized the findings from clinical and preclinical studies on dietary agents including green tea, pomegranate, lupeol, fisetin, and delphinidin that are currently being investigated in our laboratory for their chemopreventive potential against CaP" - Click here for the review but it is 172 pages in the .pdf format.
• Green Tea Compounds Beat Obstructive Sleep Apnea-related Brain Deficits, Study Shows - Science Daily, 5/15/08 - "green tea polyphenols (GTP) ... intermittent hypoxia (IH) ... The IH-rats that received the green tea-treated water performed significantly better in a water maze than the rats that drank plain water. "GTP-treated rats exposed to IH displayed significantly greater spatial bias for the previous hidden platform position, indicating that GTPs are capable of attenuating IH-induced spatial learning deficits ... GTPs "may represent a potential interventional strategy for patients" with sleep-disordered breathing"
• Green tea's Alzheimer protection gets more support - Nutra USA, 4/25/08 - "Polyphenon E (PE) ... The animals receiving the green tea extract should significantly decreased beta-amyloid-induced changes to the reference and working memory, while levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were 42 per cent less than the controls animals infused with the protein ... a person (with a body weight of 50 kg) would have to drink about three litres of PE per day to get similar effects ... However, humans consume antioxidants (including vitamins A, B, C and E as well as polyphenols, etc.) from various food sources everyday. Therefore, a lower amount (less than three litres) of 0.5 per cent PE-mixed water volume intake may be effective in humans to ensure the similar effects" - [Abstract]
• Extracts From Reishi Mushroom And Green Tea Shows Synergistic Effect To Slow Sarcoma - Science Daily, 4/8/08 - "Both the reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum; Lingzhi) and green tea have long held a place in traditional medicine in China and other Asian countries, for the general promotion of health and long life and for the treatment of specific diseases. More recent scientific studies have confirmed that both enhance the body¹s immune functions and hold the potential for treatment and prevention of many types of cancer" - See reishi at Amazon.com and green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Green Tea Ingredient, EGCG, Significantly Inhibits Breast Cancer Growth In Female Mice - Science Daily, 4/7/08 - [WebMD] - "Green tea is high in the antioxidant EGCG (epigallocatechin-3- gallate) which helps prevent the body’s cells from becoming damaged and prematurely aged ... At the end of the five week period the researchers found that oral consumption of EGCG caused significant decreases in TCSA (66%), tumor weight (68%), IM density 155+/-6 vs.111+/-20 IM#mm^2) and VEGF protein levels (59.0+/-3.7 vs. 45.7+/-1.4 pg/mg) in the breast tumors vs. the control mice, respectively (N=8; P<0.01). Further, VEGF plasma levels were lower in EGCG mice than in control mice (40.8+/-3.5 vs. 26.5+/-3.8 pg/ml P< 0.01)" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Green Tea Helps Beat Superbugs, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 3/30/08 - "drinking green tea helps the action of important antibiotics in their fight against resistant superbugs, making them up to three times more effective"
• Could foods prevent ovarian cancer? - MSNBC, 3/14/08 - "Kaempferol — a flavonoid found in tea, broccoli, kale and spinach — and luteolin — which is provided by peppers, carrots, cabbage and celery — were both identified as cancer protective. Women who consumed the most of these two flavonoids were 40 percent and 34 percent less likely, respectively, to develop ovarian cancer compared to women who consumed the least ... A 2007 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition linked greater consumption of carotenoid phytochemicals with a 67 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer. This included not only beta-carotene, the oft-cited carotenoid in deep-orange vegetables and fruits, but also alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin — carotenoids found in a wide range of red, orange, yellow and green vegetables" - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL, Mixed Carotenoid Complex at Amazon.com.
• Black tea may slash Parkinson's disease risk - Nutra USA, 2/22/08 - "Drinking at least 23 cups of black tea a month, or about three-quarters of a cup a day, may slash the risk of developing Parkinson's disease by a whopping 71 per cent ... 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. Oolong tea is semi-fermented tea and is somewhere between green and black tea ... A key difference between black tea and green tea lies in the types and amounts of flavonoids. Green teas contain more of the simple flavonoids called catechins. But when black tea is made, the catechins undergo oxidation resulting in the generation of more complex varieties, called thearubigins and theaflavins" - [Abstract]
• Green tea extract's Janus Effect on stomach health: study - Nutra USA, 2/12/08 - "The green tea polyphenol (-)-epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG) may slash the risk of gastric cancer among women by 75 per cent"
• Green Tea May Ward Off Weight Gain - WebMD. 1/23/08 - "Here's what those preliminary lab tests in mice show: ... Less weight and fat gain. Among mice with an obesity gene, those that ate chow laced with green tea extract gained less weight and less fat ... Less fat in the liver. There was less sign of "fatty liver" disease in the mice with the obesity gene that ate chow laced with green tea extract ... Lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels in mice with the obesity gene that ate the chow laced with green tea extract, compared to other mice with the same obesity gene" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Green tea shows benefits against fatty liver - Nutra USA, 1/22/08 - "the obese mice fed the GTE-supplemented diets had 23 to 25 per cent less body than the obese mice fed the non-supplemented diet. Moreover, the lean mice fed the GTE-supplemented diets had 11 to 20 per cent less body than their lean counterpart on the non-supplemented diet ... Measurements of the blood enzymes alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, used as markers of liver damage, showed that GTE-supplementation was associated with 30 to 41 per cent and 22 to 33 per cent lower activities, respectively" - [Abstract] - Note:  Alanine aminotransferase is the "ALT" you see on blood tests and aspartate aminotransferase is the "AST" you see on blood tests.
• Chemical In Red Wine, Fruits And Vegetables Counters Unhealthy Effects Of High-fat Foods - Science Daily, 1/2/08 - "consuming polyphenols (natural compounds in red wine, fruits, and vegetables) simultaneously with high-fat foods may reduce health risks associated with these foods"
• Green tea may cut prostate cancer risk - USATODAY.com, 12/20/07 - "those who drank five or more cups of green tea a day reduced their risk of having progressive prostate cancer by half, compared with those who drank a cup or less"
• Green Tea May Protect Brain Cells Against Parkinson's Disease - Science Daily, 12/13/07 - "green tea polyphenols protect dopamine neurons that increases with the amount consumed. They also show that this protective effect is mediated by inhibition of the ROS-NO pathway, a pathway that may contribute to cell death in Parkinson's"
• Green Tea Shown To Possess Antitumor Effect In Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 12/8/07 - "green tea has antitumor effect in breast cancer cells ... Dr. Maheshwari’s study observed that green tea can inhibit the invading capacity of these breast cancer cells and have also identified the mechanisms involved in death inducing and invasion inhibiting effects of green tea"
• Chemoprevention, Naturally: Findings On Plant-derived Cancer Medicines - Science Daily, 12/6/07 - "rats fed a diet containing Polyphenon E, a standardized green tea polyphenol preparation, are less than half as likely to develop colon cancer ... After 34 weeks, rats that received Polyphenon E developed 55 percent fewer tumors compared to the control rats that did not receive Polyphenon E. Moreover, the tumors were 45 percent smaller in rats treated with green tea extract"
• Citrus Juice, Vitamin C Give Staying Power To Green Tea Antioxidants - Science Daily, 11/13/07 - "catechins are relatively unstable in non-acidic environments, such as the intestines, and less than 20 percent of the total remains after digestion ... Ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, used to increase shelf life in ready-to-drink products, increased recovered levels of the two most abundant catechins by sixfold and 13-fold, respectively"
• Green Tea Proves A Powerful Medicine Against Severe Sepsis In the Lab - Science Daily, 11/8/07 - "Survival jumped from 53 percent in those who didn't receive the green tea substance to 82 percent in those who did. "Clinically, even if we could save five percent of patients, that would be huge," ... In this study, we saved 25 percent more animals with the green tea"
• Green tea may halve prostate cancer risk - Nutra USA, 10/12/07 - "Drinking five or more cups a day was associated with a 48 per cent reduction in advanced prostate cancer risk, compared to drinking less than one cup per day"
• Drinking Tea May Slow Bone Loss - WebMD, 10/8/07 - "A new study shows elderly women who drank tea had higher bone density in their hips and less bone loss than women who didn't drink tea ... Previous studies have suggested that phytochemicals in tea, such as flavonoids, may be responsible for the protective effect against bone loss due to their estrogen-like properties"
• Put the kettle on: Tea is steeped in health benefits - USATODAY.com, 10/7/07 - "Tea polyphenols, compounds with antioxidant activity, may protect against heart disease and a variety of cancers ... green and black tea, when substituted for drinking water, inhibits the growth of human prostate cancer cells implanted in mice ... compounds in green tea positively affect genes involved in cancer susceptibility and DNA repair"
• Are You Easily Distracted? Try Some Tea - US News and World Report, 10/8/07 - "the amino acid theanine, which is found in green, black, and oolong teas, causes a decrease in the brain's "alpha rhythms" when people perform complex attention tasks, causing them to pay closer attention. His ongoing research, funded by the food and beverage conglomerate Unilever, suggests that theanine and caffeine together improve performance more than either substance alone ... in mice, at least—tea's main antioxidant shows an ability to curb brain cell death and encourage neurons to repair themselves" - See theanine at Amazon.com.
• Soda Warning? High-fructose Corn Syrup Linked To Diabetes, New Study Suggests - Science Daily, 8/23/07 - "high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) ... Chi-Tang Ho, Ph.D., conducted chemical tests among 11 different carbonated soft drinks containing HFCS. He found 'astonishingly high' levels of reactive carbonyls in those beverages. These undesirable and highly-reactive compounds associated with "unbound" fructose and glucose molecules are believed to cause tissue damage ... Ho estimates that a single can of soda contains about five times the concentration of reactive carbonyls than the concentration found in the blood of an adult person with diabetes ... adding epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a compound in tea, significantly reduced the levels of reactive carbonyl species in a dose-dependent manner when added to the carbonated soft drinks studied. In some cases, the levels of reactive carbonyls were reduced by half"
• Green tea may cut oral cancer risk - study - Nutra USA, 8/22/07 - "women who consumed five or more cups of green tea per day had an associated risk reduction of 70 per cent, compared to women who consumed between one and two cups per day" - [Abstract]
• Green Tea Boosts Production Of Detox Enzymes, Rendering Cancerous Chemicals Harmless - Science Daily, 8/10/07 - "In a study of 42 people, the concentrate -- composed of chemicals known as green tea catechins in amounts equal to that found in 8-16 cups of green tea -- boosted production of the enzymes, which belong to the glutathione S-transferase (GST) family, by as much as 80 percent in some participants ... GST enzymes are believed to be crucial to the body's defense against cancer-causing chemicals and other toxins, according to the study's lead investigator, H.-H. Sherry Chow, Ph.D., a research associate professor at the University of Arizona. They modify the cancer-causing molecules that would otherwise damage cellular DNA, thus rendering them inert"
• Green Tea Holds Promise As New Treatment For Inflammatory Skin Diseases - Science Daily, 8/7/07 - "Green tea could hold promise as a new treatment for skin disorders such as psoriasis and dandruff ... Animal models treated with green tea also showed reduced levels of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, a gene expressed when skin cells multiply. In psoriasis, the gene is over-expressed and speeds production of skin cells"
• Green Tea May Protect Bladder From Becoming Inflamed - Science Daily, 5/20/07 - "catechins found in green tea protected both normal and cancerous bladder cells from inflammation when we exposed the cells to hydrogen peroxide ... these results indicate herbal supplements from green tea could be a treatment option for various bladder conditions that are caused by injury or inflammation"
• Green Tea Extract Protects Against Brain Damage In New Mouse Model Of HIV-related Dementia - Science Daily, 5/1/07 - "epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major antioxidant derived from green tea ... The green tea compound inhibited the ability of the cytokine to act with the HIV proteins to cause death and damage of the neurons"
• Green Tea vs. Rheumatoid Arthritis - WebMD, 4/30/07
• Green Tea Compound, EGCG, May Be A Therapy For People With Rheumatoid Arthritis - Science Daily, 4/29/07 - "the compound -- called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) -- inhibited the production of several molecules in the immune system that contribute to inflammation and joint damage in people with rheumatoid arthritis"
• Tea 'could cut skin cancer risk' - BBC News, 4/19/07 - "Those who drank two or more cups a day had a 65% lower risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma"
• Green Tea And EGCG May Help Prevent Autoimmune Diseases - Science Daily, 4/19/07 - "The group treated with green tea had significantly fewer lymphocytes, Dr. Hsu says. Their blood also showed lower levels of autoantibodies, protein weapons produced when the immune system attacks itself, he says"
• Report: Green Tea - Natural Support For Healthy Weight Control - Life Extension Magazine, 4/07 - "Strong scientific evidence suggests that green tea confers critical cardiovascular benefits, may protect against a variety of deadly cancers, reduces the risk of diabetic complications, and may mitigate the effects of various autoimmune disorders ... If these broad-spectrum benefits were not reason enough for health-conscious adults to consider adding green tea to their daily supplement regimen, emerging research that confirms green tea’s effects in facilitating fat burning, weight management, and optimal body composition surely is"
• Green Tea And COX-2 Inhibitors Combine To Slow Growth Of Prostate Cancer - Science Daily, 3/1/07 - "In mice that were not treated with either substance, the tumor volume averaged 1,300 cubic millimeters, whereas mice given either the tea or celecoxib had tumors averaging 835 cubic millimeters and 650 cubic millimeters, respectively. Tumors taken from mice given both agents, however, measured on average a volume of 350 cubic millimeters"
• Get the diet scoop: 6 promising supplements, 6 to avoid - CNN, 2/16/07 - "promising ... Caffeine ... EGCG ... Chromium ... Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) ... 5-HTP ... L-dopa or L-tyrosine"
• Cup Of Green Tea To Keep The Bacteria Away - Science Daily, 1/16/07 - "A cup of green tea contains up to 200 mg of catechins, whose biological activity has been mainly attributed to its antioxidant activity ... green tea catechins inhibit essential bacterial enzyme DNA gyrase, which is the target of several existing clinically used drugs"
• Milk Eliminates Cardiovascular Health Benefits Of Tea, Researchers Warn - Science Daily, 1/9/07 - "black tea significantly improves the ability of the arteries to relax and expand, but adding milk completely blunts the effect"
• More evidence for tea’s anticancer potential - Nutra USA, 12/21/06
• Tea Extracts Help Treat Damaged Skin In Cancer Patients - Science Daily, 11/1/06 - "tea extracts reduce the duration of radiation-induced skin damage by up to 10 days in patients who received radiation treatment"
• Confused about green tea? - MSNBC, 11/10/06
• Is Coffee or Tea Good for Your Liver? - Medscape, 10/2/06 - "The consumption of coffee and tea is associated with a reduced risk of CLD"
• Green Tea for Long Life? - WebMD, 9/12/06 - "Women who drink five or more 3.4-ounce cups of green tea every day cut their risk of heart disease by 31% compared with women who drink one or fewer 3.4-ounce cups. Men who drink this much green tea cut their heart disease risk by 22%"
• Tea linked to lower risk of bile stones and cancer - Nutra USA, 7/10/06
• Green Tea And The 'Asian Paradox' - Science Daily, 6/6/06 - "one theory is that the average 1.2 liters of green tea consumed daily by many people in Asia offers the anti-oxidant protective effects of the polyphenolic EGCG. EGCG may prevent LDL oxidation, which has been shown to play a key role in the pathophysiology of arteriosclerosis. EGCG also reduces the amount of platelet aggregation, regulates lipids, and promotes proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells, which are all factors in reducing cardiovascular disease"
• Tea May Fight Ovarian, Breast Cancers - WebMD, 4/5/06 - "women who increase their consumption of kaempferol, a type of flavonoid, can lower their risk of ovarian cancer by nearly 40% ... women who consume a diet rich in other types of flavonoids - specifically, flavones, flavan-3-ols, and lignans -- can reduce their chance of developing breast cancer by 26% to 39%"
• Green tea may reduce, but black tea may increase breast cancer risk - Nutra USA, 2/21/06 - "Drinking five cups of green tea a day can reduce the risk of breast cancer by 22 per cent ... No such protective effect was found for black tea. Indeed, the results were contradictory: the cohort studies showed a small increased risk of breast cancer, while the case-control studies showed a small decreased risk"
• Green Tea May Do Wonders for the Brain - WebMD, 2/17/06 - "Those who reported drinking the most green tea were least likely to show cognitive impairment, based on their test scores ... Drinking at least two daily cups of green tea was tied to the lowest risk of cognitive impairment"
• Drinking Tea Associated With Lower Risk Of Ovarian Cancer - Science Daily, 1/3/06 - "We observed a 46 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer in women who drank two or more cups of tea per day compared with non-drinkers"
• Mayo Clinic Reports Some Chronic Leukemia Patients May Improve By Taking An Extract Of Green Tea - Science Daily, 12/13/05 - "In the small case study, the researchers report on four patients who appeared to have an improvement in the clinical state of their disease after starting over-the-counter products containing epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an extract of green tea. Three of the four patients met the standard criteria used to define a response treatment for clinical trials. These same investigators had previously shown that EGCG kills leukemia cells from patients with CLL in the test tube"
• Tea May Cut Ovarian Cancer Risk - WebMD, 12/12/05 - "Women who drank at least 2 cups of tea per day had a 46% lower risk of ovarian cancer compared with nontea drinkers; each additional cup of tea was associated with an 18% lower risk of ovarian cancer"
• Coffee and Tea Can Reduce Risk of Chronic Liver Disease - Doctor's Guide, 12/2/05 - "people at high risk for liver injury may be able to reduce their risk for developing chronic liver disease significantly by drinking more than two cups of coffee or tea daily. This preventative effect was only seen in people at higher risk for liver disease due to heavy alcohol intake, being overweight or having diabetes or iron overload"
• Does Green Tea Ingredient Protect Against Alzheimer’s? - Physician's Weekly, 11/28/05 - "The results suggest that an EGCG dietary supplement may help in preventing the disease in the future"
• Can Green Tea Protect Against Prostate Cancer? - Life Extension Magazine, 11/05 - "Thirty-two subjects received 200 mg of green tea catechins (50% EGCG) three times daily, while the other 30 men received a placebo. Biopsies were conducted at six months and one year later. Remarkably, only one man in the treatment group was diagnosed with prostate cancer, compared to nine men in the control group who developed the disease"
• Green Tea Ingredient Prevents Alzheimer's-like Brain Damage In Mice - Science Daily, 9/29/05
• Antioxidant in Green Tea May Fight Alzheimer's - WebMD, 9/20/05 - "high doses of the green tea ingredient -- known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) -- significantly reduced the formation of beta-amyloid proteins in the brains of mice that were altered to develop Alzheimer's disease"
• Green tea may benefit some more than others - MSNBC, 9/2/05 - "Since it is a powerful antioxidant, EGCG may help prevent both heart disease and cancer. It helps to stabilize highly reactive molecules known as free radicals that can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of heart disease, or alter the DNA in our genes, promoting cancerous changes. In addition, EGCG may protect against cancer development by increasing the self-destruction of cancer cells and by affecting enzymes and the signals between cells, slowing the growth and multiplication of cancer cells"
• FDA Rejects Green Tea Cancer Claims - WebMD, 7/5/05
• Green tea could fight autoimmune disorders - Nutra USA, 6/16/05
• Does a New Pill Contain the Fountain of Youth? - ABC News, 6/2/05 - "It is a combination of five plant ingredients. Two of them are pretty commonplace — green tea and turmeric, a spice used in Indian cooking"
• While On Trail Of Dioxin, Scientists Pinpoint Cancer Target Of Green Tea - Science Daily, 5/20/05 - "EGCG binds to HSP90 ... When the two bind, HSP90 no longer turns on the AH receptor, stopping the cascade of events that would lead to the activation of several harmful genes"
• Black Tea Has Both Positive and Negative Vascular Effects - Doctor's Guide, 5/18/05 - "The caffeine in black tea causes the stiffening of arteries ... The flavonoids in black tea produce the relaxation of the arteries"
• Mechanism for green tea's anti-cancer action revealed - Nutra USA, 5/17/05 - "It turns out that those researchers are trying to duplicate what green tea does naturally"
• Purified Green Tea Polyphenol Capsules Taken Daily Appear to Substantially Reduce Prostate Cancer in High Risk Patients - Doctor's Guide, 4/22/05 - "researchers reported a 90% decrease in the rate of prostate cancer in men who received 200 mg doses of the polyphenol capsules three times a day for 1 year"
• Black Tea, Green Tea Good for Diabetes - WebMD, 4/20/05 - "Black and green tea represent a potentially inexpensive, nontoxic, and, in fact, pleasurable [blood-sugar-lowering] agent"
• Tea May Help Prevent Diabetes And Cataracts - Science Daily, 4/19/05 - "At levels that would be equivalent to less than five cups of tea per day for a human, both teas significantly inhibited cataract formation relative to a control group which did not get tea, they say. The researchers found that both teas decreased glucose levels, which in turn affects other biochemical pathways that accelerate diabetic complications such as cataracts"
• Tea Ingredient Fights Leukemia - WebMD, 4/4/05 - "Tea extracts shut down leukemia cells but help normal cells fight cancer and infection"
• Green tea mechanism urges caution for pregnant women - Nutra USA, 3/17/05
• Component Of Green Tea Protects Injured Livers In Mice - Science Daily, 3/9/05
• Green tea 'may protect the heart' - BBC News, 2/28/05 - "a major chemical component of green tea known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) can reduce cell death after a heart attack or stroke ... EGCG also appears to speed up the recovery of heart cells"
• Green Tea Extract Shows Potential As An Anti-cancer Agent - Science Daily, 2/23/05 - "green tea extract interrupts a process that is crucial in allowing bladder cancer to become invasive and spread to other areas of the body" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Green Tea Helps Reduce Red in Rosacea - WebMD, 2/23/05 - "Women treated with the green tea extract cream had a 70% improvement in rosacea compared with women treated with a placebo"
• Green Tea's Record Against Cancer Grows - WebMD, 2/15/05 - "In effect, the green tea extract may keep the cancer cells confined and localized, where they are easier to treat and the prognosis is better ... you should drink four cups a day. Green tea supplements are also available, and at least one study has shown that you may actually get more powerful antioxidants from supplements than from drinking tea"
• Green Tea Extract Boosts Exercise Endurance 8-24%, Utilizing Fat As Energy Source - Science Daily, 1/31/05 - "over 10 weeks, endurance exercise performance was boosted up to 24% with 0.5% GTE [green tea extract] supplementation, and 8% with 0.2% by-weight addition to food ... We estimate that an athlete weighing 75 kilograms (165 pounds) would have to drink about four cups (0.8 liter) of green tea daily to match the effect in our experiments"
• Green Tea: The Next Performance Enhancer? - WebMD, 1/28/05 - "Ten weeks of green tea supplements plus strenuous exercise made mice swim longer and stronger than mice that swam their laps without performance enhancement ... The mice got stronger because the green tea made them burn fat more efficiently ... the amount of green tea eaten by the mice would work out to about 4 cups of green tea a day for a 165-pound human athlete"
• Green Tea Fights Fat - WebMD, 1/26/05 - "the first group drank a bottle of oolong tea fortified with green tea extract containing 690 milligrams of catechins, and the other group drank a bottle of oolong tea with 22 milligrams of catechins ... After three months, the study showed that the men who drank the green tea extract lost more weight (5.3 pounds vs. 2.9 pounds) and experienced a significantly greater decrease in BMI, waist size, and total body fat" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea products.
• Harmful Fluoride Levels Found in Instant Tea - WebMD, 1/25/05
• Green tea for a healthy prostate? - MSNBC, 1/21/05 - "phytochemicals called polyphenols attack growth factors and proteins, interrupting processes that increase the size of tumors, thus preventing them from spreading to other parts of the body ... green tea in mice with an aggressive form of cancer can decrease the spread or metastasis of prostate cancer to liver, bone and other sites ... the phytochemicals in green tea could inhibit the early stages of prostate cancer development"
• Green Tea - Life Extension Magazine, 1/05 - "A powerful source of antioxidants, green tea may help to prevent cancer, protect the cardiovascular system, promote healthy blood sugar levels, and alleviate the neurological effects of aging"
• Green Tea - Delicious Living, 1/05
• Green Tea Capsules Loaded With Antioxidants - WebMD, 12/15/04 - "Green and black tea polyphenols have been extensively studied as cancer chemopreventive agents ... Green tea supplements produced the highest levels of antioxidants in the blood compared with liquid black or green tea"
• Green Tea Polyphenols Thwart Prostate Cancer Development At Multiple Levels - Science Daily, 12/15/04 - "The polyphenols present in green tea help prevent the spread of prostate cancer by targeting molecular pathways that shut down the proliferation and spread of tumor cells, as well as inhibiting the growth of tumor nurturing blood vessels"
• Capsules better delivery form for tea benefits than beverage - Nutra USA, 12/10/04 - "Our observations suggest that green tea extract supplements retain the beneficial effects of green and black tea and may be used in future chemoprevention studies to provide a large dose of tea polyphenols without the side effects of caffeine associated with green and black tea beverages"
• Green Tea May Stall Prostate Cancer Growth - WebMD, 12/1/04 - "the green tea antioxidant appeared to stall cell growth by decreasing production of several proteins that promote cell survival. In addition, it reduced the production of proteins that are known to be associated with the spread of cancer cells ... the study also suggests that the antioxidant in green tea appeared to starve prostate cancer tumor cells by inhibiting the formation of blood vessels, thereby suppressing the flow of nutrients to the cancerous cells" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea products.
• Black, Green Tea May Slow Alzheimer's Disease - WebMD, 10/27/04
• Tea Drinkers Reap Blood Pressure Benefits - WebMD, 7/26/04 - "Those who drank at least a half-cup of moderate strength green or oolong tea per day for a year had a 46% lower risk of developing hypertension than those who didn't drink tea" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea products.
• Green Tea Protects Against Cervical Cancer - Healthwell Exchange Daily News, 7/1/04
• Tea Slows Prostate Cancer - WebMD, 4/20/04
• Tea polyphenols to combat prostate cancer - Nutra USA, 4/20/04
• Green tea action on leukaemia - Nutra USA, 4/1/04 - "The active component in green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), already shown to fight several types of cancer, also appears to kill cells of the most common form of leukaemia"
• Sleep easy with green tea - Nutra USA, 3/16/04
• Green Tea's Cancer-Fighting Target Found - WebMD, 3/15/04 - "the antioxidant, known as EGCG, binds to a protein found on tumor cells and dramatically slows their growth ... the antioxidant required to produce these anticancer effects was equivalent to those found in the body after drinking only two to three cups of green tea"
• Green Tea Boosts Metabolism Without Increasing Heart Rate - Clinical Psychiatry News, 3/04 - "Patients took two 375-mg capsules twice daily, for a total daily epigallocatechin gallate dose of 270 mg ... By week 12, body weight decreased by a mean of 4.6% and waist circumference by 4.48%"
• Does tea really fight cancer? - MSNBC, 11/21/03 - "A new study of the potential link of green tea consumption with lower risk of breast cancer does suggest a protective benefit. Asian-American women who averaged at least three six-ounce cups of green tea per week were about half as likely to develop breast cancer as those who drank none ... One of the strengths of this study is that researchers statistically adjusted for the effects of many other influences on breast cancer risk"
• Hot Cocoa May Prevent Heart Disease - WebMD, 11/6/03 - "Hot cocoa has more disease-fighting antioxidants than tea or red wine ... black tea, green tea, red wine, and cocoa are "major" sources of antioxidants called phenols and flavonoids -- antioxidant chemicals found naturally in foods that can help prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer" - Yeah, but what about the sugar and calories.  See iHerb or Vitacost green tea products.
• Some Herbs May Fight Cancer - WebMD, 10/28/03
• Research Finds Tumor Preventive Qualities, Damage Reversal, In Green Tea - Intelihealth, 10/29/03 - "EGCG (epigallocatchin-3-gallate) is the most abundant and active chemopreventive agent in green tea, and has been associated with reduced risk of breast, pancreatic, colon, esophageal and lung cancers in humans ... At the same time, we see the value of green tea polyphenols in reducing excretion of 8-OHdG. All of this is good news for the prevention and early detection of liver cancer" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea products.
• Tea Good for Heart Disease, Cancer - WebMD, 10/1/03
• Is Decaf Tea Less Protective? - Dr. Weil, 9/30/03
• Green Tea Lotion May Prevent Skin Cancer - WebMD, 9/8/03 - "a protein called JNK-2 appears to be directly related to the development of skin cancer and that this protein can be block blocked by the application of polyphenols. After the skin is exposed to UV light, levels of this protein rise and remain high ... green tea polyphenols reduce levels of JNK-2 in the skin and block the reaction that causes tumors to form ... a person would have to drink as many as ten cups of green tea a day in order to build up enough polyphenol molecules in the skin to produce any benefit"
• Enriched Green Tea Extract Lowers Cholesterol - New Hope Natural Media, 8/14/03
• Tea Extract Can Lower Cholesterol - WebMD, 6/23/03
• Green Tea Boosts Antimicrobial Properties Of Toothpaste - Intelihealth, 5/21/03 - "green tea extracts (GTE) and polyphenol (PP) have an adverse effect on bacteria that cause strep throat, dental caries, and other infections"
• Tea Fights Bad Breath, Mouth Bacteria - WebMD, 5/20/03
• Green Tea Gives Skin Healthy Glow - HealthDay, 5/15/03 - "Green tea contains compounds called polyphenols, which help eliminate free radicals. These free radicals can cause cancer by altering DNA. Polyphenols also protect healthy cells while promoting the death of cancer cells ... Cells that migrate toward the surface of the skin normally live about 28 days, and by day 20 they basically sit on the upper layer of the skin getting ready to die. But EGCG reactivates them ... EGCG may offer potential benefits for skin conditions including psoriasis, rosacea, wrinkles and wounds"
• Steeped In Health - Time, 5/5/05 - "The researchers found that drinking 20 oz. of tea every day for at least two weeks doubled or tripled the immune system's output of an infection-fighting substance called interferon gamma. The coffee drinkers, by contrast, registered no difference in interferon-gamma production. Apparently the body metabolizes the tea into molecules that mimic the surface proteins of bacteria, jump-starting the immune system so that when real bugs show up, they can more easily be dispatched ... Green tea has more of the chemically simpler antioxidants called catechins, whereas black tea contains more complex antioxidants called theaflavins and thearubigins"
• Health Benefit of Tea: Add Immune Boost That Helps Fight Germs - WebMD, 4/21/03
• Green Tea Supplement May Delay Diabetes - WebMD, 4/16/03
• A Derivative Of The Green Tea Leaf May Help With Metabolic Syndrome X, A Potentially Deadly Disorder - Intelihealth, 4/10/03 - "A new weapon might eventually be added to the arsenal: consumption of Tegreen, a tea polyphenols product containing in excess of 65 percent tea catechins, derived from the green tea leaf ... oral administration of Tegreen is capable of improving glucose and lipid metabolisms in an obese rat model induced by a high-calorie diet ... Tegreen intervention can significantly decrease visceral fat depot and increase the insulin's sensitivity, presumably touching one of the pathological root causes of this potentially deadly syndrome" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea products.
• Green Tea Doesn't Help Prostate Cancer - WebMD, 3/5/03
• Herb Mix Nixes Prostate Cancer in Lab - WebMD, 12/13/02 - "A number of recent studies point to COX-2 as an important factor in cancer-cell growth. In the Columbia studies, Zyflamend decreased COX-2 activity about as well as a potent COX-2-inhibiting drug ... The herbal mix is called Zyflamend, from New Chapter Inc., and has 10 herbs: holy basil, turmeric, ginger, green tea, rosemary, hu zhang, Chinese goldthread, barberry, oregano, and Scutellaria biacalensis"
• More Good News on Tea - WebMD, 9/27/02 - "The latest studies suggest tea might lower cholesterol, improve heart health, prevent rectal cancer in women, and reduce cell damage in smokers"
• Green Tea, Allergy Fighter? - WebMD, 9/24/02
• Green Tea May Fight Allergies - Intelihealth, 9/19/02 - "Researchers in Japan identified a compound in green tea that, in laboratory tests, blocks a key cell receptor involved in producing an allergic response ... Researchers in Japan identified a compound in green tea that, in laboratory tests, blocks a key cell receptor involved in producing an allergic response ... Although similar compounds in green tea have previously been shown to be anti-allergenic, this particular compound appears to be the most potent"
• Green Tea Cancer Benefits Detailed - USA Today, 7/9/02 - "polyphenols in green tea help eliminate free radicals ... Hsu discovered the polyphenols actually separate healthy cells containing the P-57 protein from cancer cells, which lack the protein. While the healthy cells are sent to safety, the polyphenols attack the cancer cells ... The polyphenols go after the cancer cells' mitochondria, the main energy source in cells. The destruction of the mitochondria weakens the cancer cells, and eventually leads to their death" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea products.
• Long-Time Tea Drinking Builds Strong Bones - WebMD, 5/14/02
• Habitual Tea Drinking Improves Adult Bone Mineral Density - Doctor's Guide, 5/13/02
• Tea May Strengthen Bones - Intelihealth, 5/13/02
• Drinking Tea May Help Prevent Heart Attacks - Doctor's Guide, 5/9/02 - "Drinking more tea and increasing flavonoid intake may help primary prevention of ischaemic heart disease ... The intake of the dietary flavonoids quercetin, kaempferol and myricetin was significantly associated inversely with fatal myocardial infarction only in upper tertiles of intake"
• Tea Prolongs Survival After Heart Attack - WebMD, 5/6/02 - "Researchers say the findings add to a growing notion that the antioxidant-rich flavonoids found in black and green teas prevent heart disease. But this is the first study to suggest that drinking tea can actually protect the heart after damage has already occurred"
• Tea Lowers Risk of Ischemic Heart Disease - Medscape, 4/29/02
• Tea Drinking Good for the Heart - WebMD, 4/25/02
• Green Tea May Aid Liver Disease Patients - WebMD, 4/23/02 - "survival rate was bumped up to 77% for rats that received a fatty liver bathed in green tea extract"
• A Green Tea Extract Could Help Alleviate Shortage Of Livers Available For Transplant - Intelihealth, 4/22/02 - "Polyphenols are efficient free radical and single oxygen scavengers, and green tea extracts inhibit lipid peroxidation in experimental animals and humans. Green tea contains high levels of polyphenols including catechin, epicatechin, gallocatechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate and gallocatechin gallate. Considerable epidemiological and experimental evidence shows beneficial effects of green tea extract in reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer, most likely due to the antioxidant property of polyphenols"
• Green Tea Protects Against Parkinson's - WebMD, 4/16/02 - "In a mouse study, the researchers found that polyphenol blocks MPP+ -- a substance that is known to kill brain cells and cause Parkinson's in mice -- from entering these brain cells ... if you want to try it and don't care for the taste of green tea, concentrated polyphenol capsules are available"
• Common Foods Help Prevent Cancer - WebMD, 4/10/02 - "found that regular green tea drinking cut cancer risk in half ... men who ate more than two servings of tomato sauce per week had a 23% lower risk of prostate cancer than men who ate less than one serving a week"
• How to Stay Healthy in 2002, Green Tea - Time Magazine, 1/21/02
• Green tea polyphenols inhibit prostate cancer in mouse model - Life Extension Magazine, 12/01 - "According to study findings published in the August 28, 2001 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [PNAS 2001 Aug;98(18):10350-10355], green tea polyphenols—the equivalent found in about six cups of green tea per day in humans—helped to significantly reduce the risk of prostate cancer in a mouse model"

Abstracts:

• The Synergistic Apoptotic Interaction of Panaxadiol and Epigallocatechin Gallate in Human Colorectal Cancer Cells - Phytother Res. 2012 May 8 - "Panaxadiol (PD) is a purified sapogenin of ginseng saponins, which exhibits anticancer activity. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a major catechin in green tea, is a strong botanical antioxidant ... Cell growth was suppressed after treatment with PD (10 and 20 µm) for 48 h. When PD (10 and 20 µm) was combined with EGCG (10, 20, and 30 µm), significantly enhanced antiproliferative effects were observed in both cell lines. Combining 20 µm of PD with 20 and 30 µm of EGCG significantly decreased S-phase fractions of cells. In the apoptotic assay, the combination of PD and EGCG significantly increased the percentage of apoptotic cells compared with PD alone (p < 0.01). The synergistic apoptotic effects were also supported by docking analysis, which demonstrated that PD and EGCG bound in two different sites of the annexin V protein. Data from this study suggested that apoptosis might play an important role in the EGCG-enhanced antiproliferative effects of PD on human colorectal cancer cells"
• (-)-Epigallocatechin gallate induces Fas/CD95-mediated apoptosis through inhibiting constitutive and IL-6-induced JAK/STAT3 signaling in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells - J Agric Food Chem. 2012 Feb 7 - "These findings provide that EGCG may be useful in the chemoprevention and/or treatment of HNSCC"
• Study: Green tea could be secret to healthy old age - MSNBC, 2/6/12 - "followed nearly 14,000 adults aged 65 or older for three years ... those who drank the most green tea were the least likely to develop "functional disability," or problems with daily activities or basic needs, such as dressing or bathing ... Specifically, almost 13 percent of adults who drank less than a cup of green tea per day became functionally disabled, compared with just over 7 percent of people who drank at least five cups a day"
• Associations between frequency of tea consumption and health and mortality: evidence from old Chinese - Br J Nutr. 2012 Jan 16:1-12 - "The present study examines how self-reported frequency of tea consumption in daily life is associated with health and mortality among very old adults in China ... A total of four measurements between 1998 and 2005 resulted in 51 668 observations. Hazard regressions showed that men who drink tea almost every day have a 10-20 % lower risk of death compared to their counterparts who seldom drink tea, after adjusting for numerous confounders including baseline health. This relationship was stronger in younger male elders aged 65 to 84 years than in the oldest-old men aged 85 years and older. However, frequency of tea consumption was not significantly associated with mortality in women. Our analyses further show that high frequency of tea consumption is significantly associated with reduced OR of disability in activities of daily living, cognitive impairment, self-rated poor health, cumulative health deficits and CVD in both young elders and the oldest-old, and in both men and women"
• Green Tea Extract Suppresses NFκB Activation and Inflammatory Responses in Diet-Induced Obese Rats with Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis - J Nutr. 2011 Dec 7 - "Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is characterized by oxidative stress and inflammatory responses that exacerbate liver injury ... Adult Wistar rats were fed a low-fat (LF) diet or high-fat (HF) diet containing no GTE or GTE at 1% or 2% (HF+2GTE) for 8 wk. The HF group had greater (P ≤ 0.05) serum alanine (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferases and hepatic lipids than the LF group. Both GTE groups had lower ALT and hepatic lipid than the HF group. In liver and epididymal adipose, the HF group had lower glutathione as well as greater mRNA and protein expression of TNFα and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and NFκB binding activity than the LF group. Compared to the HF group, the HF+2GTE group had greater glutathione and lower protein and mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines in both tissues. NFκB binding activities at liver and adipose were also lower, likely by inhibiting the phosphorylation of inhibitor of NFκB. NFκB binding activities in liver and adipose (P ≤ 0.05; r = 0.62 and 0.46, respectively) were correlated with ALT, and hepatic NFκB binding activity was inversely related to liver glutathione (r = -0.35). These results suggest that GTE-mediated improvements in glutathione status are associated with the inhibition of hepatic and adipose inflammatory responses mediated by NFκB, thereby protecting against NASH"
• Beneficial effects of catechin-rich green tea and inulin on the body composition of overweight adults - Br J Nutr. 2011 Oct 28:1-6 - "The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the effect of catechin-rich green tea in combination with inulin affects body weight and fat mass in obese and overweight adults. A total of thirty subjects were divided into a control group and an experimental group who received 650 ml tea or catechin-rich green tea plus inulin. A reduction of body weight ( - 1.29 (sem 0.35) kg) and fat mass (0.82 (sem 0.27) kg) in the experimental group was found after 6 weeks, and no adverse effects were observed. After refraining from consumption for 2 weeks, sustained effects on body weight and fat mass were observed. We conclude that continuous intake of catechin-rich green tea in combination with inulin for at least 3 weeks may be beneficial for weight management" - Note: 1.29 kg is 2.8 pounds.  See inulin products at Amazon.com and green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Green tea catechins decrease total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol: a systematic review and meta-analysis - J Am Diet Assoc. 2011 Nov;111(11):1720-9 - "Twenty trials (N=1,415) met all inclusion criteria. Upon meta-analysis, GTCs at doses ranging from 145 to 3,000 mg/day taken for 3 to 24 weeks reduced total (-5.46 mg/dL [-0.14 mmol/L]; 95% CI -9.59 to -1.32) and LDL cholesterol (-5.30 mg/dL [-0.14 mmol/L]; 95% CI -9.99 to -0.62) compared to control. GTCs did not significantly alter HDL cholesterol (-0.27 mg/dL [-0.007 mmol/L]; 95% CI -1.62 to 1.09) or triglyceride (3.00 mg/dL [-0.034 mmol/L]; 95% CI -2.73 to 8.73) levels. The consumption of GTCs is associated with a statistically significant reduction in total and LDL cholesterol levels; however, there was no significant effect on HDL cholesterol or triglyceride levels"
• Green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate suppresses melanoma growth by inhibiting inflammasome and IL-1β secretion - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2011 Oct 1 - "This paper provides a novel mechanism for EGCG-induced melanoma inhibition: inflammasome downregulation→decreased IL-1β secretion→decreased NF-κB activities→decreased cell growth. In addition, it suggests inflammasomes and IL-1β could be potential targets for future melanoma therapeutics"
• Effects of Green Tea Polyphenol (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate on a Newly Developed High-fat/Western-style Diet-induced Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome in Mice - J Agric Food Chem. 2011 Sep 20 - "EGCG treatment significantly reduced body weight gain associated with increased fecal lipids, and decreased blood glucose and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels compared to the HFW group. Fatty liver incidence, liver damage and liver triglyceride levels were also decreased by EGCG treatment. Moreover, EGCG treatment attenuated insulin resistance and levels of plasma cholesterol, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), C-reactive protein (CRP), interlukin-6 (IL-6), and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). Our results demonstrate that the HFW diet produces more severe symptoms of metabolic syndrome than the HF diet and EGCG treatment can alleviate these symptoms and body fat accumulation. The beneficial effects of EGCG are associated with decreased lipid absorption and reduced levels of inflammatory cytokines"
• Pro-bone and anti-fat effects of green tea and its polyphenol, epigallocatechin in rat mesenchymal stem cells in vitro - J Agric Food Chem. 2011 Aug 31 - "In conclusion, this is the first report of dual action of green tea polyphenol EGC in promoting osteogenesis and inhibiting adipocyte formation in MSCs. Our results provide scientific evidence to support the potential use of green tea in supporting the bone against degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis"
• Green tea intake lowers fasting serum total and LDL cholesterol in adults: a meta-analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials - Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Jun 29 - "We performed a comprehensive literature search to identify relevant trials of green tea beverages and extracts on lipid profiles in adults ... The analysis of eligible studies showed that the administration of green tea beverages or extracts resulted in significant reductions in serum TC and LDL-cholesterol concentrations, but no effect on HDL cholesterol was observed"
• Green Tea Extract (Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate) Reduces Efficacy of Radiotherapy on Prostate Cancer Cells - Urology. 2011 Jun 13 - "Radiotherapy is effective in inducing apoptosis in DU145 cells, but its effect was significantly reduced in the presence of EGCG, and this was associated with an increase in the induction of manganese superoxide dismutase"
• Green tea and coffee consumption and its association with thyroid cancer risk: a population-based cohort study in Japan - Cancer Causes Control. 2011 May 12 - "Green tea consumption was not found to be associated with thyroid cancer risk in general. However, when women were stratified by menopausal status, the multivariable HR for ≥5 cups/day versus <1 cup/day was 1.66 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.85-3.23, trend p = 0.04) in premenopausal women, and was 0.47 (95% CI = 0.23-0.96, trend p = 0.06) in postmenopausal women. We found no association between coffee consumption and thyroid cancer risk in either sex"
• Green Tea Polyphenols Provide Photoprotection, Increase Microcirculation, and Modulate Skin Properties of Women - J Nutr. 2011 Apr 27 - "Dietary constituents including polyphenols and carotenoids contribute to endogenous photoprotection and modulate skin characteristics related to structure and function of the tissue. Animal and in-vitro studies indicate that green tea polyphenols affect skin properties. In a 12-wk, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 60 female volunteers were randomized to an intervention or control group. Participants consumed either a beverage with green tea polyphenols providing 1402 mg total catechins/d or a control beverage. Skin photoprotection, structure, and function were measured at baseline (wk 0), wk 6, and wk 12. Following exposure of the skin areas to 1.25 minimal erythemal dose of radiation from a solar simulator, UV-induced erythema decreased significantly in the intervention group by 16 and 25% after 6 and 12 wk, respectively. Skin structural characteristics that were positively affected included elasticity, roughness, scaling, density, and water homeostasis. Intake of the green tea polyphenol beverage for 12 wk increased blood flow and oxygen delivery to the skin. Likewise, in a separate, randomized, double-blind, single-dose (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 g) study of green tea polyphenols, blood flow was maximized at 30 min after ingestion. In summary, green tea polyphenols delivered in a beverage were shown to protect skin against harmful UV radiation and helped to improve overall skin quality of women"
• Epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG) attenuates FFAs-induced peripheral insulin resistance through AMPK pathway and insulin signaling pathway in vivo - Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2011 Apr 21 - "free fatty acids (FFAs) ... This study suggests the therapeutic value of EGCG in protecting from insulin resistance caused by elevated FFAs"
• Protective Role of Tea Polyphenols in Combination against Radiation-induced Haematopoietic and Biochemical Alterations in Mice - Phytother Res. 2011 Mar 31 - "The purpose of this study was to investigate the radioprotective effects of tea polyphenols (TPs) in various combinations against radiation-induced damage in mice. Mice were divided into different groups: non-irradiated control, irradiated control, amifostine (43.6 mg/kg, i.v. 30 min before irradiation; positive control) and various combinations of tea polyphenols in different doses. The radioprotective effect on the haematopoietic system, serum cytokines and endogenous antioxidant enzymes were studied. TP50, containing approximately 50% of (-)-epigallochatechin-3-gallate in addition to other catechins, showed the greatest radioprotective effect against radiation-induced changes in haematological parameters (red blood cell count, white blood cell count and haemoglobin), and maintained the spleen and thymus indices unchanged (spleen or thymus weight/body weight × 1000). Tea polyphenols also significantly decreased radiation-induced lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde levels), elevated endogenous antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase) and reduced the serum cytokines which were elevated in radiation-induced toxicity. This evidence shows the potential of tea polyphenols, particularly in the combination found in TP50, as radioprotectors in mice, especially regarding recovery of the haematopoietic system, antioxidant potential activity and reduction of inflammatory cytokines"
• Green tea aqueous extract reduces visceral fat and decreases protein availability in rats fed with a high-fat diet - Nutr Res. 2011 Feb;31(2):157-64 - "Green tea is associated with beneficial health effects mainly because of its body fat-reducing and hypocholesterolemic activities, but an effective dose without pronounced influence on protein availability is unknown. The objective of this study was to examine the hypothesis that green tea aqueous extract (GTAE) depending on dose improves cardiovascular risk indicators such as body weight, visceral fat content, and atherogenic index of plasma and does not have unfavorable effect on protein availability in rats fed with a high-fat diet. The rats fed with a high-fat diet enriched with 1.1 and 2.0% GTAE for 8 weeks had significantly (P < .05) lower atherogenic index (in both groups, about 14.3%). Only administration of 2.0% GTAE significantly (P < .05) decreased body weight gain (5.6%) and prevented visceral fat accumulation (17.8%) in rats. However, considerably (P < .05), reduction in the digestion of protein (but not fat) was observed in both GTAE groups (1.1% GTAE: 82.6% +/- 1.8%; 2.0% GTAE: 84.3% +/- 0.8%) when compared to the control (93.3% +/- 1.5%). It was concluded that GTAE may have preventive effects on the accumulation of visceral fat but only in higher doses. Although both doses improved cardiovascular risk indicators, they, in addition, significantly inhibited protein digestion" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• A Dietary Mixture Containing Fish Oil, Resveratrol, Lycopene, Catechins, and Vitamins E and C Reduces Atherosclerosis in Transgenic Mice - J Nutr. 2011 Mar 16 - "Chronic inflammation and proatherogenic lipids are important risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Specific dietary constituents such as polyphenols and fish oils may improve cardiovascular risk factors and may have a beneficial effect on disease outcomes ... AIDM was evaluated in an inflammation model, male human C-reactive protein (CRP) transgenic mice, and an atherosclerosis model, female ApoE*3Leiden transgenic mice. Two groups of male human-CRP transgenic mice were fed AIDM [0.567% (wt:wt) powder and 0.933% (wt:wt oil)] or placebo for 6 wk. The effects of AIDM on basal and IL-1β-stimulated CRP expression were investigated. AIDM reduced cytokine-induced human CRP and fibrinogen expression in human-CRP transgenic mice. In the atherosclerosis study, 2 groups of female ApoE*3Leiden transgenic mice were fed an atherogenic diet supplemented with AIDM [0.567% (wt:wt) powder and 0.933% (wt:wt oil)] or placebo for 16 wk. AIDM strongly reduced plasma cholesterol, TG, and serum amyloid A concentrations compared with placebo. Importantly, long-term treatment of ApoE*3Leiden mice with AIDM markedly reduced the development of atherosclerosis by 96% compared with placebo. The effect on atherosclerosis was paralleled by a reduced expression of the vascular inflammation markers and adhesion molecules inter-cellular adhesion molecule-1 and E-selectin. Dietary supplementation of AIDM improves lipid and inflammatory risk factors of CVD and strongly reduces atherosclerotic lesion development in female transgenic mice" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com, Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com, Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL at Amazon.com, green tea extract at Amazon.com and Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.
• Epigallocatechin-3-gallate effectively attenuates skeletal muscle atrophy caused by cancer cachexia - Cancer Lett. 2011 Mar 10 - "Cachexia, also known as wasting syndrome notably with skeletal muscle atrophy, costs nearly one-third of all cancer deaths in man. (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the principal polyphenolic component in green tea, is a potent preventive against cachexia as well as cancers ... EGCG was demonstrated to be able to retard tumor progression as well as to prevent body weight from loss, because EGCG attenuates skeletal muscle leukocytic infiltration and down-regulates tumor-induced NF-κB and E3-ligases in muscle. In mice, the dosages optimized against cachexia were determined to be 0.2mg/mouse/day for prevention and to be 0.6mg/mouse/day for treatment. Anti-cachexia effects were assessed using the LLC tumor model. Mice with the same body weight were divided into groups, including control, tumor bearing, and tumor-bearing but receiving water or EGCG in both prevention and treatment experiments. RT-PCR was used to assess mRNA expressions of NF-κB, MuRF 1, and MAFbx. The intracellular NF-κB, MuRF 1 and MAFbx were determined and quantified by immunofluorescence and Western blotting, respectively. Our results conclude EGCG regulates the expressions of NF-κB as well as downstream mediators, MuRF 1 and MAFbx, so EGCG may be an appropriate agent to be included in ensemble therapeutics of the tumor-induced muscle atrophy"
• Epigallocatechin-3 Gallate Inhibits Invasion, Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, and Tumor Growth in Oral Cancer Cells - J Agric Food Chem. 2011 Mar 9 - "Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is critical for the progression, invasion, and metastasis of epithelial tumorgenesis. Here, we provided molecular evidence associated with the antimetastatic effect of green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3 gallate (EGCG) in an oral squamous cell culture system by showing a nearly complete inhibition on the invasion (P < 0.001) of squamous cell carcinoma-9 (SCC-9) cells via a reduced expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (P < 0.001) and urokinasetype plasminogen activator (P < 0.001). EGCG exerted an inhibitory effect on cell migration (P < 0.001), motility (P < 0.001), spread, and adhesion (P < 0.001). We performed Western blot to find that EGCG inhibited p-focal adhesion kinase (p-FAK), p-Src, snail-1, and vimentin, indicating the anti-EMT effect of EGCG in oral squamous cell carcinoma. EGCG was also sufficient to inhibit phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate-induced cell invasion and matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression, as evidenced by its inhibition on the tumor growth of SCC-9 cells in vivo via cancer cell xenografted nude mice mode. These results suggested that EGCG could reduce the invasion and cell growth of tumor cells, and such a characteristic may be of great value in developing a potential cancer therapy"
• The Effect of Green Tea Extract and EGCG on the Signaling Network in Squamous Cell Carcinoma - Nutr Cancer. 2011 Mar 3:1 - "These results suggested that GTE and EGCG target multiple pathways or global networks in cancer cells, which resulted in collective inhibition of cancer cell growth"
• Anti-angiogenic Activity and Intracellular Distribution of Epigallocatechin-3-gallate Analogs - Biol Pharm Bull. 2011;34(3):396-400 - "Angiogenesis, a process of construction of new blood capillaries, is crucial for tumor progression and metastasis. Our previous studies demonstrated that a component of green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), suppressed angiogenesis and subsequent tumor growth. In this study, to elucidate the detailed mechanism of the anti-angiogenic effect of EGCG and to enhance the antiangiogenic activity of EGCG, we designed and synthesized EGCG derivatives and examined their biological effect and intracellular localization in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). EGCG derivatives aminopentyl dideoxyEGCG and aminopentyl dideoxygallocatechin-3-gallate (cis-APDOEGCG and trans-APDOEGCG) had an enhanced inhibitory effect on the proliferation when used at more than 30 µM. To elucidate antiangiogenic effect of EGCG, we used a 1 µM concentration for subsequent experiments where no effect on proliferation was observed. These EGCG derivatives showed a stronger inhibitory effect on migration, invasion, and tube formation by HUVECs than the non-derivatized EGCG. Furthermore, the derivatives induced a change in the distribution of F-actin and subsequent morphology of the HUVECs. Next, we synthesized fluorescent TokyoGreen-conjugated EGCG derivative (EGCG-TG) and observed the distribution in HUVECs under a confocal laser scanning microscope. Abundant fluorescence was observed in the cells after a 3-h incubation, and was localized in mitochondria as well as in cytoplasm. These results suggest that EGCG was incorporated into the HUVECs, that a portion of it entered into their mitochondria"
• Tea Contains Potent Inhibitors of Tyrosine Phosphatase PTP1B - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2011 Feb 28 - "Tea is widely consumed all over the world. Studies have demonstrated the role of tea in prevention and treatment of various chronic diseases including diabetes and obesity, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. PTP1B is a widely expressed tyrosine phosphatase which has been defined as a target for therapeutic drug development to treat diabetes and obesity. In screening for inhibitors of PTP1B, we found that aqueous extracts of teas exhibited potent PTP1B inhibitory effects with an IC50 value of 0.4 to 4 g dry tea leaves per liter of water. Black tea shows the strongest inhibition activities, followed by oolong and then by green tea. Biochemical fractionations demonstrated that the major effective components in tea corresponded to oxidized polyphenolic compounds. This was further verified by the fact that tea catechins became potent inhibitors of PTP1B upon oxidation catalyzed by tyrosinases. When applied to cultured cells, tea extracts induced tyrosine phosphorylation of cellular proteins. Our study suggests that some beneficial effects of tea may be attributed to the inhibition of PTP1B"
• Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), a Major Component of Green Tea, is a Dual Phosphoinositide-3-kinase/mTOR Inhibitor - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2011 Feb 4 - "The PI3K signaling pathway is activated in a broad spectrum of human cancers, either directly by genetic mutation or indirectly via activation of receptor tyrosine kinases or inactivation of the PTEN tumor suppressor ... The potency of EGCG against PI3K and mTOR is within physiologically relevant concentrations. In addition, EGCG inhibits cell proliferation and AKT phosphorylation at Ser473 in MDA-MB-231 and A549 cells. Molecular docking studies show that EGCG binds well to the PI3K kinase domain active site, agreeing with the finding that EGCG competes for ATP binding. Our results suggest another important molecular mechanism for the anticancer activities of EGCG"
• Effects of green tea catechins on the pro-inflammatory response after haemorrhage/resuscitation in rats - Br J Nutr. 2011 Feb 4:1-7 - "Plant polyphenols, i.e. green tea extract (GTE), possess high antioxidative and anti-inflammatory capacity, thus being protective in various models of acute inflammation ... Compared with both sham groups, inflammatory markers (serum IL-6 and hepatic PMNL infiltration) were elevated after H/R (P < 0.05). Also, H/R increased IκBα phosphorylation. GTE administration markedly (P < 0.05) decreased serum ALT and IL-6 levels, hepatic necrosis as well as PMNL infiltration and the expression of ICAM-1 and phosphorylated IκBα compared with H/R. In conclusion, we observed that NF-κB activation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of liver injury after H/R through the up-regulation of hepatic ICAM-1 expression and subsequent PMNL infiltration. GTE pre-treatment prevents liver damage in this model of acute inflammation through a NF-κB-dependent mechanism"
• High oolong tea consumption predicts future risk of diabetes among Japanese male workers: a prospective cohort study - Diabet Med. 2011 Jan 18 - "Compared with those not consuming oolong tea, multivariable adjusted hazard ratios for developing diabetes were 1.00 (95% CI 0.67-1.49) for those who drank one cup of oolong tea per day and 1.64 (95% CI 1.11-2.40) for those drinking two or more cups per day ... Long-term consumption of oolong tea may be a predictive marker for new onset diabetes" - Note:  Oolong tea is purported to prevent diabetes.  This is claiming an 64% increased chance of diabetes the way I read it.
  • Antihyperglycemic effect of oolong tea in type 2 diabetes - Diabetes Care. 2003 Jun;26(6):1714-8 - "oolong tea markedly lowered concentrations of plasma glucose (from 229 +/- 53.9 to 162.2 +/- 29.7 mg/dl, P < 0.001) and fructosamine (from 409.9 +/- 96.1 to 323.3 +/- 56.4 micromol/l ... Oolong tea may be an effective adjunct to oral hypoglycemic agents in the treatment of type 2 diabetes"
• Genoprotective effects of green tea ( Camellia sinensis) in human subjects - Br J Nutr. 2010 Sep 1:1-8 - "In vitro testing results of tea-treated cells showed increased (P < 0.05) resistance of DNA to the challenge. In the supplementation trial, a significant (P < 0.05) increase in resistance was also observed. Furthermore, the FPg comet data showed >20 % decrease in DNA damage with tea supplementation: mean and standard deviation changes in %DNA in comet tail in the Fpg-assisted comet assay were: - 5.96 (sd 3.83) % after Longjing tea; - 6.22 (sd 3.34) % after screw-shaped tea; +0.91 (sd 5.79) % after water (P < 0.05). No significant changes in urine 8-oxodG were seen. The results indicate that green tea has significant genoprotective effects and provide evidence for green tea as a 'functional food'" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Green Tea Supplementation Affects Body Weight, Lipids, and Lipid Peroxidation in Obese Subjects with Metabolic Syndrome - J Am Coll Nutr. 2010 Feb;29(1):31-40 - "Green tea beverage consumption (4 cups/d) or extract supplementation (2 capsules/d) for 8 weeks significantly decreased body weight and BMI. Green tea beverage further lowered lipid peroxidation versus age- and gender-matched controls, suggesting the role of green tea flavonoids in improving features of metabolic syndrome in obese patients"
• Epigallocatechin gallate-mediated protection against tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 expression is heme oxygenase-1 dependent - Metabolism. 2010 Jun 24 - "Pretreatment with EGCG inhibited the secretion of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and the activation of activator protein-1 in porcine aortic endothelial cells stimulated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Moreover, EGCG up-regulated the expression of HO-1 and further induced the secretion of bilirubin. The observed anti-inflammatory effects of EGCG were mimicked by the HO-1 inducer cobalt protoporphyrin and abolished by HO-1 gene silencing. These data suggest that the protective properties of flavonoids, such as EGCG, against endothelial inflammation may be regulated in part though induction of HO-1 and subsequent activator protein-1 signaling"
• Effects of (-)-Epicatechin on Myocardial Infarct Size and Left Ventricular Remodeling After Permanent Coronary Occlusion - J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010 Jun 22;55(25):2869-2876 - "In the 48-h group, treatment reduced infarct size by 52%. There were no differences in hemodynamics among the different groups (heart rate and aortic and LV pressures). Western blots revealed no differences in AKT or ERK phosphorylation levels. At 3 weeks, PCO control animals demonstrated significant increases in LV end-diastolic pressure, heart and body weight, and LV chamber diameter versus sham. The PCO plus (-)-epicatechin group values were comparable with those of the sham plus (-)-epicatechin group. Treatment resulted in a 33% decrease in myocardial infarction size. The LV pressure-volume curves demonstrated a right shift in control PCO animals, whereas the (-)-epicatechin curves were comparable with those of the sham group. The LV scar area strains were significantly improved with (-)-epicatechin"
• Tea consumption and risk of ovarian cancer - Cancer Causes Control. 2010 May 20 - "We also systemically reviewed all the available evidence regarding the potential association between green tea and risk of ovarian cancer, given the abundance of bioavailable polyphenols and higher antioxidant capacity of green tea than black tea, to provide the best summary estimate of the association. RESULTS: In our case-control study, while we found uniformly inverse odds ratios (OR) for tea drinkers compared to non-tea drinkers [4 + cups/day any tea OR 0.71 (95% CI 0.52-0.97); green tea OR 0.82 (95% CI 0.38-1.79); herbal tea OR 0.77 (95% CI 0.28-2.14): black tea OR 0.88 (95% CI 0.66-1.18)], we saw no dose-response trends. Our meta-analysis provided some evidence that women who drink green tea have a lower risk of ovarian cancer, although the summary estimate did not reach statistical significance (0.58, 95% CI 0.33-1.01 for >/=1 cup/green tea day). This result is consistent with two recent meta-analyses that evaluated the association of tea (all types combined) and ovarian cancer risk"
• Coffee and tea consumption and endometrial cancer risk in a population-based study in New Jersey - Cancer Causes Control. 2010 May 14 - "There was a moderate inverse association with coffee consumption, with an adjusted OR of 0.65 (95% CI: 0.36-1.17) for women who reported more than two cups/day of coffee compared to none. Tea consumption appeared to increase risk (OR: 1.93; 95% CI: 1.08-3.45), but after including the variables sugar/honey and cream/milk added to tea in the model, the risk estimate was attenuated and no longer statistically significant (OR: 1.77; 95% CI: 0.96-3.28 for those consuming more than one cup/day of tea compared to nonusers). There was a suggestion of a decreased risk associated with green tea, but the confidence interval included one (adjusted OR for one or more cups/week vs. none: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.48-1.18). We found an association with adding sugar/honey to tea, with those adding two or more teaspoons/cup having an OR of 2.66 (95% CI: 1.42-4.98; p for trend <0.01) after adjusting for relevant confounders. For sugar/honey added to coffee the corresponding OR was 1.43 (95% CI: 0.81-2.55). Our results indicate that sugars and milk/cream added to coffee and tea should be considered in future studies evaluating coffee and tea and endometrial cancer risk"
• Green tea extract decreases oxidative stress and improves insulin sensitivity in an animal model of insulin resistance, the fructose-fed rat - J Am Coll Nutr. 2009 Aug;28(4):355-61 - "These data suggest that green tea may be beneficial for people with decreased insulin sensitivity and increased oxidative stress, such as those with the metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Association between green tea consumption and tooth loss: Cross-sectional results from the Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study - Prev Med. 2010 Apr;50(4):173-179 - "Consumption of >/=1 cup/day of green tea was significantly associated with decreased odds for tooth loss, and the association appeared to fit a threshold model. In men, the multivariate-adjusted ORs for tooth loss with a cut-off point of <20 teeth associated with different frequencies of green tea consumption were 1.00 (reference) for <1 cup/day, 0.82 (95% CI, 0.74-0.91) for 1-2 cups/day, 0.82 (95% CI, 0.73-0.92) for 3-4 cups/day, and 0.77 (95% CI, 0.66-0.89) for >/=5 cups/day"
• Indoleamine 2,3-Dioxygenase, an Immunomodulatory Protein, Is Suppressed by (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate via Blocking of gamma-Interferon-Induced JAK-PKC-delta-STAT1 Signaling in Human Oral Cancer Cells - J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Nov 24 - "In this study, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major constituent of green tea, is found to significantly inhibit the expression of IDO in human oral cancer cell lines ... This study indicates that EGCG is a potential drug for immune and target therapy to enhance cancer therapy by increasing antitumor immunity"
• Green tea consumption is associated with depressive symptoms in the elderly - Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Oct 14 - "A more frequent consumption of green tea was associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms in the community-dwelling older population"
• Green tea consumption and the risk of liver cancer in Japan: the Ohsaki Cohort study - Cancer Causes Control. 2009 Sep 19 - "Over 9 years of follow-up, among 325,947 accrued person-years, the total incidence of liver cancer was 247 cases. We found that green tea consumption was inversely associated with the incidence of liver cancer. In men, the multivariate-adjusted HRs (95% CIs) for liver cancer incidence with different green tea consumption categories were 1.00 (reference) for <1 cup/day, 0.83 (0.53-1.30) for 1-2 cups/day, 1.11 (0.73-1.68) for 3-4 cups/day, and 0.63 (0.41-0.98) for >/=5 cups/day (p for trend = 0.11). The corresponding data among women were 1.00 (reference), 0.68 (0.35-1.31), 0.79 (0.44-1.44), 0.50 (0.27-0.90)"
• Coffee and tea consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes - Diabetologia. 2009 Sep 1 - "After adjustment for potential confounders, coffee and tea consumption were both inversely associated with type 2 diabetes, with hazard ratios of 0.77 (95% CI 0.63-0.95) for 4.1-6.0 cups of coffee per day (p for trend = 0.033) and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.47-0.86) for >5.0 cups of tea per day (p for trend = 0.002). Total daily consumption of at least three cups of coffee and/or tea reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes by approximately 42%"
• Chinese tea consumption is associated with longer telomere length in elderly Chinese men - Br J Nutr. 2009 Aug 12:1-7 - "In men, only Chinese tea consumption was significantly associated with TL after adjustment for demographics and lifestyle factors (P = 0.002). Mean difference in TL for those in the highest quartile of Chinese tea consumption (>3 cups/d or >750 ml/d) as compared with those in the lowest quartile of Chinese tea consumption ( </= 0.28 cups/d or </= 70 ml/d) was 0.46 kb, corresponding to approximately a difference of 5 years of life"
• Green Tea (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Inhibits {beta}-Amyloid-Induced Cognitive Dysfunction through Modification of Secretase Activity via Inhibition of ERK and NF-{kappa}B Pathways in Mice - J Nutr. 2009 Aug 5 - "Compared with untreated mutant PS2 AD mice, treatment with EGCG enhanced memory function and brain alpha-secretase activity but reduced brain beta- and gamma-secretase activities as well as Abeta levels. Moreover, EGCG inhibited the fibrillization of Abeta in vitro with a half maximal inhibitory concentration of 7.5 mg/L. These studies suggest that EGCG may be a beneficial agent in the prevention of development or progression of AD"
• Effects of Tea Catechins, Epigallocatechin, Gallocatechin, and Gallocatechin Gallate, on Bone Metabolism - J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Aug 4 - "The present study illustrated that the tea catechins, EGC in particular, had positive effects on bone metabolism through a double process of promoting osteoblastic activity and inhibiting osteoclast differentiations"
• Green Tea Consumption and Hematologic Malignancies in Japan: The Ohsaki Study - Am J Epidemiol. 2009 Jul 29 - "Risk of hematologic malignancies was inversely associated with green tea consumption. The multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio of hematologic malignancies for 5 cups/day or more compared with less than 1 cup/day of green tea was 0.58 (95% confidence interval: 0.37, 0.89). The corresponding risk estimate was 0.52 (95% confidence interval: 0.31, 0.87) for lymphoid neoplasms and 0.76 (95% confidence interval: 0.32, 1.78) for myeloid neoplasms"
• Green Tea Consumption and Mortality among Japanese Elderly People: The Prospective Shizuoka Elderly Cohort - Ann Epidemiol. 2009 Oct;19(10):732-739 - "The multivariate HRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for CVD mortality compared those who consumed seven or more cups per day with those who consumed less than one cup per day, were 0.24 (0.14-0.40), 0.30 (0.15-0.61), and 0.18 (0.08-0.40) for total participants, men, and women, respectively. Although green tea consumption was not inversely associated with cancer mortality, green tea consumption and colorectal cancer mortality were inversely associated with a moderate dose-response relationship"
• Green Tea (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Reduces Body Weight with Regulation of Multiple Genes Expression in Adipose Tissue of Diet-Induced Obese Mice - Ann Nutr Metab. 2009 Apr 22;54(2):151-157 - "Experimental diets supplemented with EGCG resulted in reduction of body weight and mass of various adipose tissues in a dose-dependent manner. EGCG diet also considerably lowered the levels of plasma triglyceride and liver lipid. In the epididymal white adipose tissue of EGCG diet-fed mice, the mRNA levels of adipogenic genes such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma), CCAAT enhancer-binding protein-alpha (C/EBP-alpha), regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (aP2), lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) were significantly decreased. However, the mRNA levels of carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1 (CPT-1) and uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2), as well as lipolytic genes such as hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) and adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), were significantly increased ... These results suggest that green tea EGCG effectively reduces adipose tissue mass and ameliorates plasma lipid profiles in high-fat diet-induced obese mice. These effects might be at least partially mediated via regulation of the expression of multiple genes involved in adipogenesis, lipolysis, beta-oxidation and thermogenesis in white adipose tissue"
• Catechin prevents endothelial dysfunction in the prediabetic stage of OLETF rats by reducing vascular NADPH oxidase activity and expression - Atherosclerosis. 2009 Feb 3 - "studies have indicated that regular intake of green tea reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases. This study examined whether catechin prevents endothelial dysfunction and hyperglycemia in the prediabetic stage of a type 2 diabetic (T2D) rat ... Catechin significantly reduced blood pressure (OLETF vs. Catechin-OLETF; 138+/-16mmHg vs. 126+/-16mmHg, p=0.013), fasting sugar (129+/-11mg/dL vs. 118+/-9mg/dL, p=0.02) and the insulin level (2.13+/-1.29ng/mL vs. 0.53+/-0.27ng/mL, p=0.004). In the aorta of Catechin-OLETF at 25 weeks, endothelium-dependent relaxations were significantly improved and NADPH oxidase activity in aortic rings was markedly decreased compared with those of OLETF. Catechin reduced vascular reactive oxygen species formation in the aorta and suppressed the expression of p22phox and p47phox NADPH oxidase subunits"
• Dietary Green Tea Extract Lowers Plasma and Hepatic Triglyceride and Decreases the Expression of Sterol Regulatory Element-Binding Protein-1c mRNA and Its Responsive Genes in Fructose-Fed Ovariectomized Rats - J Nutr. 2009 Feb 4 - "Fructose elevated plasma TG and cholesterol compared with the S group. GT at 0.5 and 1.0% markedly lowered plasma and liver TG. Fructose increased the expression of SREBP-1c, fatty acid synthase, and stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 mRNAs in the liver, whereas GT decreased the expression of these lipogenic genes. Similarly, fructose increased the abundance of hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase mRNA, whereas GT significantly decreased its expression ... the lipid-lowering effect of GT is mediated partly by its inhibition of hepatic lipogenesis involving SREBP-1c and its responsive genes without affecting lipoprotein assembly"
• Drinking green tea modestly reduces breast cancer risk - J Nutr. 2009 Feb;139(2):310-6 - "Compared with nondrinkers, regular drinking of green tea was associated with a slightly decreased risk for breast cancer (OR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.79-0.98)"
• Green tea catechin consumption enhances exercise-induced abdominal fat loss in overweight and obese adults - J Nutr. 2009 Feb;139(2):264-70 - "for 12 wk ... There was a trend (P = 0.079) toward greater loss of body weight in the catechin group compared with the control group ... Percentage changes in fat mass did not differ between the catechin [5.2 (-7.0, -3.4)] and control groups [-3.5 (-5.4, 1.6)] (P = 0.208). However, percentage changes in total abdominal fat area [-7.7 (-11.7, -3.8) vs. -0.3 (-4.4, 3.9); P = 0.013], subcutaneous abdominal fat area [-6.2 (-10.2, -2.2) vs. 0.8 (-3.3, 4.9); P = 0.019], and fasting serum triglycerides (TG) [-11.2 (-18.8, -3.6) vs. 1.9 (-5.9, 9.7); P = 0.023] were greater in the catechin group. These findings suggest that green tea catechin consumption enhances exercise-induced changes in abdominal fat and serum TG"
• Green tea, black tea consumption and risk of lung cancer: A meta-analysis - Lung Cancer. 2009 Jan 5 - "For green tea, the summary RR indicated a borderline significant association between highest green tea consumption and reduced risk of lung cancer (RR=0.78, 95% CI=0.61-1.00). Furthermore, an increase in green tea consumption of two cups/day was associated with an 18% decreased risk of developing lung cancer (RR=0.82, 95% CI=0.71-0.96). For black tea, no statistically significant association was observe through the meta-analysis (highest versus non/lowest, RR=0.86, 95% CI=0.70-1.05; an increment of two cups/day, RR=0.82, 95% CI=0.65-1.03). In conclusion, our data suggest that high or an increase in consumption of green tea but not black tea may be related to the reduction of lung cancer risk"
• Green tea drinking, high tea temperature and esophageal cancer in high- and low-risk areas of Jiangsu Province, China: A population-based case-control study - Int J Cancer. 2008 Nov 6 - "Results showed that ever drinking green tea elevated OR in both counties (Dafeng OR = 1.2, 95% CI = 0.9-1.5; Ganyu: OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.4-2.4). Drinking tea at high temperature was found to increase cancer risk in both areas (Dafeng: OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.2-2.9; Ganyu OR = 3.1 95% CI = 2.2-4.3). However, after further adjustment for tea temperature, ever drinking tea was not related to cancer in either county (Dafeng: OR = 1.0, 95% CI = 0.7-1.3; Ganyu: OR = 1.3, 95% CI = 0.9-1.7). For dose-response relationships, we observed positive relationship with monthly consumption of tea (p for trend = 0.067) and tea concentration (p for trend = 0.006) after further adjustment for tea temperature. In conclusion, green tea drinking was not inversely associated with esophageal cancer in this study. However, drinking tea at high temperatures significantly increased esophageal cancer risk. There was no obvious difference of green tea drinking between low- and high-risk areas"
• Tea consumption and risk of breast cancer - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009 Jan;18(1):341-5 - "Tea consumption was not related to breast cancer risk overall (P for trend = 0.18). However, when stratified by age, an inverse association was observed among women less than 50 years: those consuming three or more cups per day had a 37% reduced breast cancer risk when compared with women reporting no tea consumption (age and study site-adjusted odds ratios, 0.63; 95% confidence intervals, 0.44-0.89; P = 0.01) with a significant test for trend (P = 0.01). The inverse association noted among younger women was consistent for in situ and invasive breast cancer, and for ductal and lobular breast cancer ... We observed evidence to support a potential beneficial influence for breast cancer associated with moderate levels of tea consumption (three or more cups per day) among younger women. Further research is needed to confirm this association"
• Neuroprotective Effects of (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate on Aging Mice Induced by D-Galactose - Biol Pharm Bull. 2009 Jan;32(1):55-60 - "aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effects of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the main polyphenolic constituent of green tea ... Oral administration of EGCG (2 mg/kg or 6 mg/kg) for 4 weeks significantly improved the cognitive deficits in mice and elevated T-SOD and GSH-Px activities, decreased MDA contents in the hippocampus, and reduced the cell apoptosis index and expression of cleaved caspase-3 in the mouse hippocampus. The results suggest that EGCG has potent neuroprotective effects on aging mice induced by D-gal through antioxidative and antiapoptotic mechanisms, indicating that EGCG is worthy of further study in aging"
• Higher regular coffee and tea consumption is associated with reduced endometrial cancer risk - Int J Cancer. 2008 Oct 30 - "Compared to nondrinkers, we observed a nonsignificant negative association with endometrial cancer risk among women who reported >2 cups/d regular coffee (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.49-1.03), a significant inverse association with >2 cups/d black tea (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.35-0.90) and a significant inverse association with >4 cups/d combined coffee and tea consumption (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.28-0.80). These findings suggest coffee and tea may be important in reducing endometrial cancer risk"
• Green Tea Catechin Consumption Enhances Exercise-Induced Abdominal Fat Loss in Overweight and Obese Adults - J Nutr. 2008 Dec 11 - "percentage changes in total abdominal fat area [-7.7 (-11.7, -3.8) vs. -0.3 (-4.4, 3.9); P = 0.013], subcutaneous abdominal fat area [-6.2 (-10.2, -2.2) vs. 0.8 (-3.3, 4.9); P = 0.019], and fasting serum triglycerides (TG) [-11.2 (-18.8, -3.6) vs. 1.9 (-5.9, 9.7); P = 0.023] were greater in the catechin group. These findings suggest that green tea catechin consumption enhances exercise-induced changes in abdominal fat and serum TG"
• Dietary intakes of mushrooms and green tea combine to reduce the risk of breast cancer in Chinese women - Int J Cancer. 2008 Oct 1 - "Compared with nonconsumers, the Odds ratios (Ors) were 0.36 (95% CI = 0.25-0.51) and 0.53 (0.38-0.73) for daily intake of >/=10 g fresh mushrooms and >/=4 g dried mushrooms, based on multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusting for established and potential confounders. There were dose-response relationships with significant tests for trend (p < 0.001). The inverse association was found in both pre- and postmenopausal women. Compared with those who consumed neither mushrooms nor green tea, the ORs were 0.11 (0.06-0.20) and 0.18 (0.11-0.29) for daily high intake of fresh and dried mushrooms combined with consuming beverages made from >/=1.05 g dried green tea leaves per day"
• Green tea extracts for the prevention of metachronous colorectal adenomas: a pilot study - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 Nov;17(11):3020-5 - "The incidence of metachronous adenomas at the end-point colonoscopy was 31% (20 of 65) in the control group and 15% (9 of 60) in the GTE group (relative risk, 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.24-0.99; P < 0.05). The size of relapsed adenomas was also smaller in the GTE group than in the control group (P < 0.001). No serious adverse events occurred in the GTE group. CONCLUSION: GTE is an effective supplement for the chemoprevention of metachronous colorectal adenomas"
• Suppression of androgen receptor signaling and prostate specific antigen expression by (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate in different progression stages of LNCaP prostate cancer cells - Cancer Lett. 2008 Oct 31 - "EGCG suppressed cell proliferation, prostate specific antigen (PSA) expression, and AR transcriptional activity in the different LNCaP sublines. Intraperitoneal administration of EGCG also suppressed the growth of relapsing R1Ad tumors and decreased tumor-derived serum PSA. Effects of EGCG on tumor PSA expression have the potential to affect accurate monitoring of patient tumor burden by serum PSA measurement"
• Chronic Green Tea Consumption Decreases Body Mass, Induces Aromatase Expression, and Changes Proliferation and Apoptosis in Adult Male Rat Adipose Tissue - J Nutr. 2008 Nov;138(11):2156-2163 - "Green tea (GT) ... These results suggest new mechanisms for GT on body weight and highlight its potential benefit to prevent or treat obesity and the metabolic syndrome"
• Green Tea Protects Rats against Autoimmune Arthritis by Modulating Disease-Related Immune Events - J Nutr. 2008 Nov;138(11):2111-2116 - "polyphenolic compounds from green tea (PGT) possess antiinflammatory properties ... Interestingly, PGT-fed rats had a lower concentration of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-17 but a greater concentration of the immunoregulatory cytokine IL-10 than controls. PGT feeding also suppressed the anti-Bhsp65 antibody response. Thus, green tea induced changes in arthritis-related immune responses. We suggest further systematic exploration of dietary supplementation with PGT as an adjunct nutritional strategy for the management of RA"
• Pure dietary flavonoids quercetin and (-)-epicatechin augment nitric oxide products and reduce endothelin-1 acutely in healthy men - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Oct;88(4):1018-25 - "Dietary flavonoids, such as quercetin and (-)-epicatechin, can augment nitric oxide status and reduce endothelin-1 concentrations and may thereby improve endothelial function"
• Green tea and cardiovascular disease: from molecular targets towards human health - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2008 Nov;11(6):758-65 - "Consumption of green tea has been inversely associated with the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular risk factors. Mechanisms that have been suggested as being involved in the antiatherosclerotic effects of green tea consumption primarily entail antioxidative, antiinflammatory, antiproliferative, and antithrombotic properties, as well as beneficial effects on endothelial function. Moreover, evidence exists for myocardial effects of tea constituents, including positive inotropic and antihypertrophic effects, and beneficial impact in myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury"
• Epigallocatechin-3-gallate inhibits IL-6 synthesis and suppresses transsignaling by enhancing soluble gp130 production - Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Sep 16 - "Results from in vivo studies using a rat adjuvant-induced arthritis model showed specific inhibition of IL-6 levels in the serum and joints of EGCG-treated rats by 28% and 40%, respectively, with concomitant amelioration of rat adjuvant-induced arthritis. We also observed a marked decrease in membrane-bound gp130 protein expression in the joint homogenates of the EGCG-treated group. In contrast, quantitative RT-PCR showed that the gp130/IL-6Ralpha mRNA ratio increased by approximately 2-fold, suggesting a possible mechanism of sgp130 activation by EGCG. Gelatin zymography results showed EGCG inhibits IL-6/soluble IL-6R-induced matrix metalloproteinase-2 activity in RA synovial fibroblasts and in joint homogenates, possibly via up-regulation of sgp130 synthesis. The results of these studies provide previously undescribed evidence of IL-6 synthesis and transsignaling inhibition by EGCG with a unique mechanism of sgp130 up-regulation, and thus hold promise as a potential therapeutic agent for RA"
• The major green tea polyphenol, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, inhibits obesity, metabolic syndrome, and Fatty liver disease in high-fat-fed mice - J Nutr. 2008 Sep;138(9):1677-83 - "In mice fed a high-fat diet (60% energy as fat), supplementation with dietary EGCG treatment (3.2 g/kg diet) for 16 wk reduced body weight (BW) gain, percent body fat, and visceral fat weight (P < 0.05) compared with mice without EGCG treatment ... EGCG treatment attenuated insulin resistance, plasma cholesterol, and monocyte chemoattractant protein concentrations in high-fat-fed mice (P < 0.05). EGCG treatment also decreased liver weight, liver triglycerides, and plasma alanine aminotransferase concentrations in high-fat-fed mice (P < 0.05). Histological analyses of liver samples revealed decreased lipid accumulation in hepatocytes in mice treated with EGCG compared with high-fat diet-fed mice without EGCG treatment. In another experiment, 3-mo-old high-fat-induced obese mice receiving short-term EGCG treatment (3.2 g/kg diet, 4 wk) had decreased mesenteric fat weight and blood glucose compared with high-fat-fed control mice (P < 0.05). Our results indicate that long-term EGCG treatment attenuated the development of obesity, symptoms associated with the metabolic syndrome, and fatty liver. Short-term EGCG treatment appeared to reverse preexisting high-fat-induced metabolic pathologies in obese mice. These effects may be mediated by decreased lipid absorption, decreased inflammation, and other mechanisms"
• Green tea reduces LDL oxidability and improves vascular function - J Am Coll Nutr. 2008 Apr;27(2):209-13 - "The mean diameter of the brachial artery following the post-compression hyperaemia phase rose significantly (p < 0.0001) after treatment with green tea extract. Flow-mediated brachial artery vasodilation ranged from 5.68% for the placebo phase to 11.98% after the green tea extract (p = 0.02). The consumption of green tea extract was associated with a significant 37.4% reduction in the concentration of oxidized LDL (TBARS) (p = 0.017). The levels of anti-oxidized LDL IgM antibodies fell significantly after treatment (p = 0.002) ... This study found that consumption of green tea extract by women for five weeks produced modifications in vascular function and an important decrease in serum oxidizability"
• (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) inhibits HGF-induced invasion and metastasis in hypopharyngeal carcinoma cells - Cancer Lett. 2008 Jul 14 - "Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has recently attracted a considerable amount of attention as a stromal-derived mediator in tumor-stromal interactions, particularly because of its close involvement in cancer invasion and metastasis, and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) can modulate the cell signaling associated with angiogenesis, metastasis, and migration of cancer cells ... EGCG at physiologically relevant concentration (1muM) suppressed HGF-induced tumor motility and MMP-9 and uPA activities, and the suppression of Akt and Erk pathway by EGCG was one of the downstream mechanisms to facilitate EGCG-induced anti-invasion effects. These results suggest that EGCG may serve as a therapeutic agent to inhibit HGF-induced invasion in hypopharyngeal carcinoma patients" - I took six capsules per day of green tea extract when I had my neck cancer.  Maybe that's what saved me.  See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Tea consumption and cognitive impairment and decline in older Chinese adults - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Jul;88(1):224-31 - "Total tea intake was significantly associated with a lower prevalence of cognitive impairment, independent of other risk factors. Compared with the ORs for rare or no tea intake, the ORs for low, medium, and high levels of tea intake were 0.56 (95% CI: 0.40, 0.78), 0.45 (95% CI: 0.27, 0.72), and 0.37 (95% CI: 0.14, 0.98), respectively (P for trend < 0.001). For cognitive decline, the corresponding ORs were 0.74 (95% CI: 0.54, 1.00), 0.78 (95% CI: 0.55, 1.11), and 0.57 (95% CI: 0.32, 1.03), respectively (P for trend = 0.042). These effects were most evident for black (fermented) and oolong (semi-fermented) teas, the predominant types consumed by this population"
• The acute effect of green tea consumption on endothelial function in healthy individuals - Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2008 Jun;15(3):300-5 - "Flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) ... FMD increased significantly with tea (by 3.69%, peak at 30 min, P<0.02), whereas it did not change significantly with caffeine (increase by 1.72%, peak at 30 min, P=NS) ... Green tea consumption has an acute beneficial effect on endothelial function, assessed with FMD of the brachial artery, in healthy individuals. This may be involved in the beneficial effect of tea on cardiovascular risk"
• Effects of aqueous green tea extract on activities of DNA turn-over enzymes in cancerous and non-cancerous human gastric and colon tissues - Altern Ther Health Med. 2008 May-Jun;14(3):30-3 - "Our data suggest that green tea may support the medical treatment of stomach and colon cancer"
• Green tea catechins prevent cognitive deficits caused by Abeta(1-40) in rats - J Nutr Biochem. 2008 Feb 14 - "Polyphenon E (PE) .. PE administration for 26 weeks significantly decreased the Abeta-induced increase in the number of reference and working memory errors, with a concomitant reduction of hippocampal lipid peroxide (LPO; 40%) and cortico-hippocampal reactive oxygen species (ROS; 42% and 50%, respectively). Significantly reduced levels of LPO in the plasma (24%) and hippocampus (25%) as well as those of ROS in the hippocampus (23%) and cortex (41%) were found in the PE+Vehicle group as compared with the Vehicle group ... long-term administration of green tea catechins provides effective prophylactic benefits against Abeta-induced cognitive impairment" - [Nutra USA]
• Coffee, tea, colas, and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 Mar;17(3):712-6 - "Neither caffeinated nor decaffeinated coffees were associated with ovarian cancer risk; also, we observed no association of total caffeine with risk using a combined index that summed intake from coffee, tea, and carbonated soft drinks. Among teas, neither herbal/decaffeinated nor black teas were associated with risk; however, women who reported drinking >/=1 cup/d of green tea had a 54% reduction in risk"
• Effect of tea catechins on body fat accumulation in rats fed a normal diet - Biomed Res. 2008 Feb;29(1):27-32 - "The administration of 0.5% catechins decreased the accumulation of body fat and the serum levels of cholesterol and bile acids. These results indicate that tea catechins modulate lipid metabolism not only in obese subjects, but also in the non-obese"
• Differential Effects of Black versus Green Tea on Risk of Parkinson's Disease in the Singapore Chinese Health Study - Am J Epidemiol. 2007 Dec 20 - "Black tea, a caffeine-containing beverage, showed an inverse association with Parkinson's disease risk that was not confounded by total caffeine intake or tobacco smoking (p for trend = 0.0006; adjusted relative risk for the highest vs. lowest tertile of intake = 0.29"
• Weight gain and psychiatric treatment: Is there a role for green tea and conjugated linoleic acid? - Lipids Health Dis. 2007 May 3;6:14 - "Here we report on four cases of social anxiety disorder treated with the atypical antipsychotic quetiapine. Self-administration of conjugated linoleic acid and green tea extract may have influenced objective anthropomorphic measurements; each patient had an unexpected decrease in total body fat mass, a decrease in body fat percentage and an increase in lean body mass. Since weight gain is a common and undesirable side-effect with psychiatric medications, our observation strongly suggests the need for controlled clinical trials using these agents" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com and conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Effect of green tea on kidney tubules of diabetic rats - Br J Nutr. 2008 Feb 6;:1-8 - "It has been documented that green tea (GT) and its catechin components improve renal failure and inhibit the growth of mesangial cells ... GT treatment significantly (P < 0.01) reduced the serum glucose, glycosylated protein, serum creatinine and blood urea N levels by 29.6 (sem 3.7), 22.7 (sem 5.2), 38.9 (sem 10) and 41.7 (sem 1.9) %, respectively ... the GT-treated group showed a significant 44 (sem 10.8) % higher creatinine clearance (Ccr) ... GT reduced the urea N, creatinine, glucose and protein excretion rates by 30 (sem 7.6), 35.4 (sem 5.3), 34.0 (sem 5.3) and 46.0 (sem 13.0) % compared with the 12 weeks diabetic group. Administration of GT to 12 weeks diabetic rats significantly (P < 0.001) prevented (99.98 (sem 0.27) % less) the accumulation of glycogen in the kidney tubules. These results indicate that in STZ diabetes, kidney function appears to be improved with GT consumption which also prevents glycogen accumulation in the renal tubules, probably by lowering blood levels of glucose. Therefore, GT could be beneficial additional therapy in the management of diabetic nephropathy"
• Green Tea Extract Protects Leptin-Deficient, Spontaneously Obese Mice from Hepatic Steatosis and Injury - J Nutr. 2008 Feb;138(2):323-331 - "Histologic evaluation showed a significant reduction in hepatic steatosis in GTE-fed obese mice only and histologic scores were correlated with hepatic lipid concentration (r = 0.84; P < 0.05), which was reduced dose dependently by GTE. GTE protected against hepatic injury as suggested by 30-41% and 22-33% lower serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities, respectively" - Note:  Alanine aminotransferase is the "ALT" you see on blood tests and aspartate aminotransferase is the "AST" you see on blood tests.
• The combination of epigallocatechin gallate and curcumin suppresses ERalpha-breast cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo - Int J Cancer. 2007 Dec 20 - "Tumor volume in the EGCG + curcumin treated mice decreased 49% compared to vehicle control mice (p < 0.05), which correlated with a 78 +/- 6% decrease in levels of VEGFR-1 protein expression in the tumors. Curcumin treatment significantly decreased tumor protein levels of EGFR and Akt, however the expression of these proteins was not further decreased following combination treatment. Therefore, these results demonstrate that the combination of EGCG and curcumin is efficacious in both in vitro and in vivo models of ERalpha- breast cancer and that regulation of VEGFR-1 may play a key role in this effect"
• Effects of green tea on insulin sensitivity, lipid profile and expression of PPARalpha and PPARgamma and their target genes in obese dogs - Br J Nutr. 2007 Dec 6;:1-9 - "At 12 weeks in the green tea group, mean insulin sensitivity index was 60 (sem 11) % higher (P < 0.05) and TAG concentration 50 (sem 10) % lower (P < 0.001), than baseline ... These findings show that nutritional doses of green tea extract may improve insulin sensitivity and lipid profile and alter the expression of genes involved in glucose and lipid homeostasis"
• Prevention of hypertension, cardiovascular damage and endothelial dysfunction with green tea extracts - Am J Hypertens. 2007 Dec;20(12):1321-8 - "green tea extract (GTE) ... The GTE prevented hypertension and target organ damage induced by a high Ang II dose, likely by prevention or scavenging of superoxide anion generation"
• Chronic green tea extract supplementation reduces hemodialysis-enhanced production of hydrogen peroxide and hypochlorous acid, atherosclerotic factors, and proinflammatory cytokines - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Nov;86(5):1539-47 - "Catechins reduce hemodialysis-induced production of hydrogen peroxide and hypochlorous acid, atherosclerotic disease risk factors, and proinflammation"
• Tea drinking is associated with benefits on bone density in older women - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Oct;86(4):1243-1247 - "In the cross-sectional analysis, total hip aBMD was 2.8% greater in tea drinkers (x: 806; 95% CI: 797, 815 mg/cm(2)) than in non-tea drinkers (784; 764, 803 mg/cm(2)) (P < 0.05). In the prospective analysis over 4 y, tea drinkers lost an average of 1.6% of their total hip aBMD (-32; -45, -19 mg/cm(2)), but non-tea drinkers lost 4.0%"
• Green Tea Consumption and Prostate Cancer Risk in Japanese Men: A Prospective Study - Am J Epidemiol. 2007 Sep 29 - "The multivariate relative risk was 0.52 (95% confidence interval: 0.28, 0.96) for men drinking 5 or more cups/day compared with less than 1 cup/day (p(trend) = 0.01). Green tea may be associated with a decreased risk of advanced prostate cancer"
• Can EGCG Reduce Abdominal Fat in Obese Subjects? - J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Aug;26(4):396S-402S - "heart rate (HR) ... Moderate consumption of EGCG can improve the health status of overweight individuals undergoing regular exercise by reducing HR and plasma glucose concentrations. Loss of body fat, however, may require a higher intake of EGCG, other catechins or addition of metabolic stimulants"
• The effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate on thermogenesis and fat oxidation in obese men: a pilot study - J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Aug;26(4):389S-95S - "These findings suggest that EGCG alone has the potential to increase fat oxidation in men and may thereby contribute to the anti-obesity effects of green tea"
• Synergic Anticandidal Effect of Epigallocatechin-O-gallate Combined with Amphotericin B in a Murine Model of Disseminated Candidiasis and Its Anticandidal Mechanism - Biol Pharm Bull. 2007 Sep;30(9):1693-6
• A Prospective Study of Green Tea Consumption and Oral Cancer Incidence in Japan - Ann Epidemiol. 2007 Jun 30 - "For women, the HRs of oral cancer for green tea consumption of 1-2, 3-4, and 5 or more cups per day were 0.51 (95% CI: 0.10-2.68), 0.60 (95% CI: 0.17-2.10), and 0.31 (95% CI: 0.09-1.07), respectively, compared with those who drank less than one cup per day (p for trend, 0.08). For men, no such trends were observed"
• Inhibition Of Tumorigenesis in Apc(Min/+) Mice by a Combination of (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate and Fish Oil - J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Aug 16 - "The effect of a combination of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) with fish oil on intestinal tumorigenesis in Apc (Min/+) mice fed a high-fat diet was investigated in the present study. The combined treatment of EGCG and fish oil for 9 weeks reduced the tumor number by 53% as compared to controls while neither agent alone had a significant effect. Apoptosis was significantly increased in all treatment groups"
• Green tea selectively targets initial stages of intestinal carcinogenesis in the AOM-ApcMin mouse model - Carcinogenesis. 2007 Jul 17 - "green tea specifically targets initial stages of colon carcinogenesis; the time of administration of green tea is pivotal for effective chemoprevention. Beverage levels of GT are not likely to inhibit the progress of any large adenomas or adenocarcinomas existing prior to the tea administration"
• Protective Effect of (-)-Epigallocatechin Gallate against Advanced Glycation Endproducts-Induced Injury in Neuronal Cells - Biol Pharm Bull. 2007 Aug;30(8):1369-73 - "Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) are believed to be secondary factors in the selective neuronal injury associated with several neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a major monomer of green tea polyphenols, against AGEs-induced damage in neuron cells. The results showed that EGCG treatment protected against glyceraldehyde-derived AGE-induced neurotoxicity"
• Intakes of coffee, tea, milk, soda and juice and renal cell cancer in a pooled analysis of 13 prospective studies - Int J Cancer. 2007 Jun 21 - "Coffee consumption was associated with a modestly lower risk of renal cell cancer (pooled multivariate RR for 3 or more 8 oz (237 ml) cups/day versus less than one 8 oz (237 ml) cup/day = 0.84 ... Tea consumption was also inversely associated with renal cell cancer risk (pooled multivariate RR for 1 or more 8 oz (237 ml) cups/day versus nondrinkers = 0.85"
• Randomized controlled trial for an effect of green tea-extract powder supplementation on glucose abnormalities - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jun 6 - "consumed a packet of green tea-extract powder containing 544 mg polyphenols (456 mg catechins) daily ... A significant reduction in hemoglobin A1c level and a borderline significant reduction in diastolic blood pressure were associated with the intervention"
• Prospective cohort study of green tea consumption and colorectal cancer risk in women - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007 Jun;16(6):1219-23 - "The multivariate relative risk of CRC was 0.63 (95% confidence interval, 0.45-0.88) for women who reported drinking green tea regularly at baseline compared with nonregular tea drinkers" - I read that as a 37% reduction in risk. - Ben
• Acute EGCG Supplementation Reverses Endothelial Dysfunction in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease - J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Apr;26(2):95-102 - "epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a major catechin in tea ... EGCG acutely improves endothelial function in humans with coronary artery disease, and may account for a portion of the beneficial effects of flavonoid-rich food on endothelial function"
• Tea and lycopene protect against prostate cancer - Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2007;16 Suppl:453-7 - "The protective effect of green tea was significant (odds ratio 0.14, 95% CI: 0.06-0.35) for the highest quartile relative to the lowest after adjusting for total vegetables and fruits intakes and other potential confounding factors. Intakes of vegetables and fruits rich in lycopene were also inversely associated with prostate cancer risk (odds ratio 0.18 ... habitual drinking tea and intakes of vegetables and fruits rich in lycopene could lead to a reduced risk of prostate cancer in Chinese men. Together they have a stronger preventive effect than either component taken separately"
• Tea consumption and basal cell and squamous cell skin cancer: Results of a case-control study - J Am Acad Dermatol. 2007 Jan 26 - "Our findings support the existence of an inverse association between tea consumption and skin carcinogenesis"
• Green Tea Consumption and Mortality Due to Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and All Causes in Japan: The Ohsaki Study - JAMA, 9/13/06 - "Green tea consumption is associated with reduced mortality due to all causes and due to cardiovascular disease but not with reduced mortality due to cancer"
• Green tea consumption and cognitive function: a cross-sectional study from the Tsurugaya Project 1 - Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Feb;83(2):355-61 - "A higher consumption of green tea is associated with a lower prevalence of cognitive impairment in humans"
• Tea consumption and ovarian cancer risk in a population-based cohort - Arch Intern Med. 2005 Dec 26;165(22):2683-6 - "Each additional cup of tea per day was associated with an 18% lower risk of ovarian cancer"
• Ingestion of a tea rich in catechins leads to a reduction in body fat and malondialdehyde-modified LDL in men - Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Jan;81(1):122-9 - "Body weight, BMI, waist circumference, body fat mass, and subcutaneous fat area were significantly lower in the green tea extract group than in the control group"
• Plasma-kinetic characteristics of purified and isolated green tea catechin epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) after 10 days repeated dosing in healthy volunteers - Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2004 Jul;74(4):269-78 - "Ten days' repeated administration of oral doses of EGCG of up to 800 mg per day were found to be safe and very well tolerated"
• Bioavailability and antioxidant activity of tea flavanols after consumption of green tea, black tea, or a green tea extract supplement - Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Dec;80(6):1558-64 - "Flavanol absorption was enhanced when tea polyphenols were administered as a green tea supplement in capsule form and led to a small but significant increase in plasma antioxidant activity compared with when tea polyphenols were consumed as black tea or green tea. All 3 interventions provided similar amounts of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate"
• Effects of green tea intake on the development of coronary artery disease - Circ J. 2004 Jul;68(7):665-70 - "the more green tea patients consume, the less likely they are to have CAD"
• The Protective Effect of Habitual Tea Consumption on Hypertension - Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:1534-1540
• VEGF Receptor Phosphorylation Status and Apoptosis is Modulated by a Green Tea Component, Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) in B cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia - Blood. 2004 Mar 2
• Antioxidant effects of tea: evidence from human clinical trials - J Nutr. 2003 Oct;133(10):3285S-92S - "tea flavonoids are potent antioxidants that are absorbed from the gut after consumption. Tea consumption consistently leads to a significant increase in the antioxidant capacity of the blood. Beneficial effects of increased antioxidant capacity in the body may be the reduction of oxidative damage to important biomolecules. The scientific support is strongest for the protection of DNA from oxidative damage after black or green tea consumption"
• Mechanisms of cancer prevention by tea constituents - J Nutr. 2003 Oct;133(10):3262S-7S - "Consumption of tea (Camellia sinensis) has been suggested to prevent cancer, heart disease and other diseases. Animal studies have shown that tea and tea constituents inhibit carcinogenesis of the skin, lung, oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, liver, prostate and other organs. In some studies, the inhibition correlated with an increase in tumor cell apoptosis and a decrease in cell proliferation"
• Tea Intake Is Inversely Related to Blood Pressure in Older Women - J Nutr. 2003 Sep;133(9):2883-2886 - "Tea is rich in polyphenols, which have activities consistent with blood pressure-lowering potential ... Higher tea intake and higher 4-O-methylgallic acid excretion were associated with significantly lower systolic (P = 0.002 and P = 0.040, respectively) and diastolic (P = 0.027 and P < 0.001, respectively) blood pressures. A 250 mL/d (1 cup) increase in tea intake was associated with a 2.2 (0.8, 3.6) mm Hg lower systolic blood pressure and a 0.9 (0.1, 1.7) mm Hg lower diastolic blood pressure" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea products.
• Cholesterol-Lowering Effect of a Theaflavin-Enriched Green Tea Extract - Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:1448-1453 - "randomly assigned to receive a daily capsule containing theaflavin-enriched green tea extract (375 mg) or placebo for 12 weeks ... After 12 weeks, the mean +/- SEM changes from baseline in total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C, and triglyceride levels were -11.3% +/- 0.9% (P = .01), -16.4% +/- 1.1% (P = .01), 2.3% +/- 2.1% (P = .27), and 2.6% +/- 3.5% (P = .47), respectively"