Our new look for the new year! It combines ease of navigation with what we feel is a pretty attractive site and newsletter. What we haven't changed are our excellent teas (although we have added a few new ones)... Lots of new medical research this month:
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Our 2006 Shincha is here! Check out our news GIFTS section: We also now carry CANS for long term storage of your tea.
(NEW YORK, NY ) - While smoking is a well-known cause of heart disease and lung cancer, the rates of these diseases have remained inexplicably low in Asian countries where smoking is common. But researchers say there is growing evidence that green tea is one piece of the puzzle.
Writing in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Yale University researchers detail the body of evidence linking green tea to better heart health and a lower risk of cancer. No one is suggesting that smokers ignore the danger of the habit and simply drink green tea. But research indicates that the tea's high concentration of antioxidants called catechins may offer a range of health benefits, according to Dr. Bauer E. Sumpio and his colleagues at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. Antioxidants help quench molecules known as oxygen free radicals that, in excess, can damage body cells and potentially lead to disease. Free radicals are natural byproducts of normal body processes, but they are also generated by external sources like tobacco smoke. In Japan, China and other Asian countries, it is a social custom to drink green tea, which is less processed—and richer in catechins—than the black tea commonly consumed in the West. And it's possible that this habit helps explain the so-called "Asian paradox," according to Sumpio and his colleagues. This paradox becomes clear when looking at global health statistics, the researchers note. For example, for every 100,000 U.S. men, 348 will die of coronary heart disease each year. The figure for Japanese men is 186, despite the nation's higher rate of smoking. Coronary heart disease (CHD) develops when the arteries feeding the heart become hardened and narrowed due to the buildup of cholesterol-containing plaques on the artery walls. According to Sumpio's team, lab research suggests that green tea catechins—particularly one called EGCG—may help thwart the CHD process through their effects on "bad" LDL cholesterol. The antioxidants may also help keep artery walls functioning smoothly, as well as inhibit blood cells from sticking together and forming clots. Similarly, lab studies suggest that EGCG and other green tea antioxidants may block tumor formation or growth in a number of ways. This may, according to the researchers, help explain why the lung cancer death rate in Korea is unexpectedly low. The rate of lung cancer death among Korean men is less than 40 per 100,000, versus 67 per 100,000 among U.S. men. The difference among women is more stark: 13 per 100,000 in Korea, compared with 45 per 100,000 in the U.S. This is despite the fact that 37 percent of Korean adults smoke, while only 27 percent of Americans do. The global disease patterns are not that simple, however; China has a higher CHD death rate than the U.S. and many other Western nations, and the rate of death from lung cancer is about the same among Japanese and American men. Green tea, according to Sumpio, is no substitute for kicking the smoking habit. "Smoking cessation is the best way to prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer," he said in a statement. Source: Journal of the American College of Surgeons, May 2006 REFERENCE:Reuters Health http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-6-21/43041.html
(Northridge, CA) - Green tea contains compounds which may inhibit tumor formation. Drinking green tea, in addition to avoiding prolonged sun exposure, the regular and proper use of sunscreen, and regular examinations by a board-certified dermatologist, may help prevent skin cancer.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, and it is estimated that more than 1 million cases of basal and squamous cell cancer will be diagnosed this year according to the Centers for Disease Control. While avoiding prolonged sun exposure, the regular and proper use of sunscreen, and regular examinations by a board-certified dermatologist are the main actions for preventing skin cancer, green tea may help as well. “Green tea is reported to have antibacterial, antioxidant, and antitumor properties,” says Lawrence Osman, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist practicing in Los Angeles. Polyphenolic antioxidants are derived from the extracts of green tea. Also, the most widely studied component of green tea, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate, may work by inhibiting ultraviolet induced DNA damage. Inhibiting ultraviolet induced DNA damage may be important because many cases of skin cancer are directly related to ultraviolet exposure from the sun or tanning beds. The constituents of green tea have already proven effective in helping to prevent skin cancer in the lab. Accordingly, drinking green tea, in addition to avoiding prolonged sun exposure, the regular and proper use of sunscreen, and regular examinations by a board-certified dermatologist, may help prevent skin cancer in life.
(U.K.) - Green tea's ability to fight cancer is even more potent and varied than scientists suspected, research suggests.
Scientists already know that green tea contains anti-oxidants which may have a protective effect against cancer. But now they have discovered that chemicals in the tea also shut down a key molecule which can play a significant role in the development of cancer. Tobacco smoke and dioxins, in particular, disrupt the functioning of the molecule and cause it to trigger potentially harmful gene activity. The researchers, from Rochester University, found that two chemicals in green tea inhibit AH activity. Similar compounds Both chemicals are similar to compounds called flavonoids, which are found in broccoli, cabbage, grapes and red wine, and which are also known to help prevent cancer. Researcher Professor Thomas Gasiewicz said: "Green tea may work differently than we thought to exert its anti-cancer activity. "It's likely that the compounds in green tea act through many different pathways." The Rochester team showed that the chemicals shut down the AH receptor in cancerous mouse cells. Early results indicate the same is true in human cells. However, the scientists say that the results in the laboratory do not necessarily translate to everyday life as the crucial factor is how green tea is broken down inside the body. In addition, there are a lot of differences between various types of green tea. Dr Julie Sharp, a science information office at Cancer Research UK, said: "This research describes additional properties of green tea that may be beneficial but which have yet to be tested properly. "The causes of cancer are complex and both diet and our genetic make-up act together to influence our risk of developing the disease. "Cancer Research UK is currently involved in a large-scale study of diet and health that is researching the eating habits of over half a million people in 10 European countries to try and help unravel this complexity." Research has also suggested that green tea may help to reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis and to lower cholesterol levels. The research is published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology. REFERENCE FOR FULL ARTICLE SEE:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3125469.stm
(MILWAUKEE) - When it comes to your heart, coffee has taken a couple of lumps in the last year, although in a recent large study it got a clean bill of health. Tea, on the other hand, consistently is portrayed as a heart-healthy beverage, although last month the Food and Drug Administration once again denied that claim.
Coffee and tea have been studied intensely in the last several years, and while medical science has yet to decide definitively how the popular beverages affect the heart, it is inching closer. Earlier this year, two studies suggested that the less coffee a person drinks, the better. In March, a study that followed more than 3,000 coffee drinkers in Greece for two years found troubling levels of inflammatory substances in their blood, compared with the blood of those who don't drink coffee. In other studies, those substances have been associated with higher rates of heart attack and stroke, although the new study did not assess whether the coffee drinkers were at more risk. The study, which was presented at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting, found that men who consumed more than a cup of coffee a day had 30 percent higher levels of a particular inflammatory substance in their blood, compared with non-coffee drinkers. For women, it was 38 percent higher. Various other inflammatory substances also were elevated in the coffee drinkers. "Maybe (coffee) is harmful when you consume high quantities," said lead author Christina Chrysohoou, a cardiologist with the First Cardiology Clinic at the University of Athens in a March interview. "Moderate consumption is the best." Just before that study, another one found a troubling link between coffee consumption and nonfatal heart attacks in patients who had a specific genetic trait related to how quickly they metabolized caffeine. About 50 percent of the U.S. population has that trait. That study, published in March in the Journal of the American Medical Association, involved 2,014 first heart-attack patients in Costa Rica. Those who slowly metabolized caffeine and who drank two to three cups of coffee a day had a 36 percent greater risk of having a nonfatal first heart attack. For those who drank four or more cups, the risk was 64 percent greater. However, for those who were genetically predisposed to rapidly metabolize caffeine, drinking up to three cups of coffee a day brought as much as a 22 percent reduction in heart-attack risk. More reassurance came from a huge prospective study published last month that essentially gave coffee, at least filtered coffee, a clean bill of health. The study, which followed 128,000 men and women for up to 20 years, found no evidence that coffee drinking increased the risk of coronary heart disease. "We basically have cleared coffee's name," said senior author Frank Hu, an associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. "There is no hint of increased risk." In fact, those who drank more than six cups a day had a reduced risk of heart disease, according to the study published in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association. "We don't want to make too much of that," warned Hu, who said that finding could be due to chance. Hu noted, however, that other research suggests that coffee may protect against diabetes, Parkinson's and gallstones. Earlier this month, a separate study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that coffee may help prevent the liver disease alcoholic cirrhosis. "It seems that coffee is more helpful than harmful," Hu said. One caution, he said, is that boiled, unfiltered coffee may raise cholesterol, but nearly all coffee in the United States now is filtered. Hu said the other big concern is high-calorie and high-fat coffee drinks. "Too much sugar and cream may create some health concerns," he said. While coffee appears to be fairly benign toward the heart, there are other reasons to limit consumption, said Paul Millea, an assistant professor of family medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin who practices at Froedtert Hospital. It can contribute to ulcers and gastroesophageal reflux disease, he said. Beyond that, drinking large amounts of coffee may be a sign of another concern. "If we are downing multiple cups of coffee a day, why is it?" he said. "Usually it's because of some hyperstressed lifestyle." He recommends limiting consumption to one to two cups a day. But what about green tea? Last month, researchers at Yale University School of Medicine weighed in on the issue with a review article that looked at more than 100 studies on the health benefits of green tea. More studies are needed, they said. But they pointed to what they called an "Asian paradox," which refers to lower rates of heart disease and cancer in Asia despite high rates of cigarette smoking. They theorized that the 1.2 liters of green tea that is consumed by many Asians each day provides high levels of polyphenols and other antioxidants. These compounds may work in several ways to improve cardiovascular health, including preventing blood platelets from sticking together and improving cholesterol levels, said the researchers, whose study appeared in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Specifically, green tea may prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol (the bad kind), which, in turn, can reduce the buildup of plaque in arteries, the researchers wrote. It may be difficult for Americans to consume as much green tea as Asians, but they can get greater amounts of antioxidants in their diet by drinking some green tea, as well as increasing consumption of dark fruits and vegetables, drinking moderate amounts of red wine and even eating some dark chocolate, said lead author Bauer Sumpio, a professor of vascular surgery at Yale. "The collective intake probably is of significant protection to cardiovascular disease," he said. Sumpio said what swayed him is laboratory research on cells showing that green tea can act in a way that prevents heart disease and cancer. "For me, there is no downside to drinking green tea," he said. "It's not like red wine with the alcohol issue." Sumpio and his co-authors concluded in the article that "the evidence is strong that green tea consumption is a useful dietary habit to lower the risk (for) and treat a number of chronic diseases. ... The consumption of six to 10 cups of tea per day might constitute an aid to increased health, longevity and quality of life." However, the FDA isn't convinced. Last month, after reviewing 107 studies, it concluded there was no credible evidence to support the claim that green tea reduced cardiovascular disease risk factors. The statement came in a letter denying a request by a tea company to make heart health claims about green tea. The problem with many tea and coffee studies is that they usually look for associations between the beverages and heart disease risk, said James Stein, a cardiologist with the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. Coffee and tea drinkers may be more likely to engage in other activities that can affect their heart health. For instance, coffee drinkers are more likely to be smokers. Green tea drinkers may be more likely to eat lots of fruits and vegetables. In countries such as Japan, green tea drinkers also may consume much higher amounts of raw fish or foods such as seaweed, added Millea of the Medical College. Researchers try to adjust for those and other activities, but it is difficult to correct for everything that might have an effect. And the studies do not assess individual susceptibility to the effects of caffeine, said Stein, an associate professor of cardiovascular medicine. Clearly some people are better off if they do not consume caffeine, he said. That includes people with heart disease, high blood pressure and people who have had strokes. Caffeine, at least in the short term, raises blood pressure and heart rate and can constrict arteries, he said. "(Caffeine) could precipitate a plaque rupture and lead to heart attack," Stein said. Stein acknowledged that coffee contains flavonoids that have been associated with better heart health, but he tells his patients to limit their coffee to one cup a day. He said the research on green tea looks promising, but has yet to prove a clear heart benefit, although it certainly is healthier than drinking soda, he said. "We've been arguing for two decades whether caffeinated (coffee) is better than decaf and whether green tea is better than black," he said. "We don't know if long-term use is really helpful or not. "The conservative approach ( drinking these beverages in moderation ( will be the prevailing dogma for quite a while. REFERENCE:
An antioxidant in green tea may block HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from attaching to an important molecule on immune system cells. That finding is based on lab tests done on human blood cells, not people. The lab tests were done by Christina Nance, PhD, and colleagues. Nance works in Houston, at Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. In a nutshell, Nance's team wanted to see if epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a chemical found in green tea, might block HIV from attaching to the immune system's T-helper cells, thus protecting those T cells from HIV's damage. T-helper cells act as a "general" in directing and activating other immune cells in the fight against HIV. The results show that EGCG might indeed help do that. It's not yet clear if the findings will have meaning beyond the lab. HIV has proven to be crafty against many different attempts to thwart it from latching onto immune system cells. The test results were presented in Canada at the North American Research Conference on Complementary & Alternative Medicine, held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Lab Tests Nance's team treated some human T cells with three doses of EGCG. For comparison, they didn't expose other T cells to EGCG. Then they added an HIV component called gp120 to the T cells. The goal was to see if EGCG thwarted gp120 from binding to a certain molecule -- the CD4 molecule -- on T-helper cells. When gp120 latches onto a T cell's CD4 molecule, it paves the way for HIV to enter -- and eventually disable and kill -- the T cell. EGCG "markedly inhibited" gp120 from binding to the T cells' CD4 molecules, write Nance and colleagues. The highest EGCG dose had the strongest effect. The lowest dose had the mildest effect. The medium dose had a medium-sized effect. However, none of the EGCG doses totally blocked gp120 from binding to the CD4 molecule, the study shows. This isn't the first time that EGCG has been studied in HIV. In 1989, Japanese researchers reported that EGCG may help block an enzyme called reverse transcriptase that slips HIV's genetic material into the host cell's DNA.
Is it safe to drink green tea while you're pregnant? Registered dietician Martha Belury, PhD, has some information for you tea-lovers. The question: Is it okay to drink green tea during pregnancy? - Colette, New York Is it safe to drink green tea while you're pregnant? Registered dietician Martha Belury, PhD, has some information for you tea-lovers. The question: Is it okay to drink green tea during pregnancy? - Colette, New York The expert answers: Tea is one of the most popular beverages in the world. The consumption of green tea is more popular in Japanese and Chinese cultures than it is in the United States. But due to the suggestions in the scientific literature that green tea may have beneficial properties for the prevention of cancer and heart disease, green tea is gaining popularity in America. The difference between green and black teas is in the processing. Green tea is made by steaming and drying the tea leaves which allows for compounds known as "polyphenols" to be preserved. The polyphenols, most especially the catechins, are powerful antioxidants, and may be the compounds that give green tea its purported health benefits. In contrast, black tea is fermented during processing, reducing the ability of polyphenols to act as antioxidants. Green tea is available with caffeine or may be decaffeinated. To play it safe, while there appear to be no ill-effects of green tea consumption, and, in fact, green tea may prevent certain diseases, it is not recommended that green tea be consumed in large amounts during pregnancy. The minerals, iron and calcium, are needed in higher amounts during pregnancy, and absorption of these two minerals may be affected by oxidation status and/or compounds in the tea such as phytates. If you do like to enjoy an occasional cup of green tea, it is recommended that you switch to decaffeinated, since caffeine may act as a diuretic and deplete fluids. |
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