Green Tea supplementation II: cardiovascular disease and cancer

Recent research has shown green tea has a multitude of anti-carcinogenic effects and may even cause existing cancer cells to die. Green tea also has a number of cardio-protective benefits:

Anti-carcinogenic effects

While there are certain genetic mutations that can predispose or even guarantee that a person with get a certain type of cancer in their life-time, cancer is mostly associated with lifestyle and aging. If a person lives an unhealthy lifestyle associated with lack of exercise and a poor diet, there is a much higher incidence of cancer. It seems that there is strong link between oxidative damage and cellular aging, with greater oxidative damage occurring in the context of an unhealthy lifestyle. A new approach in cancer prevention research is to find dietary components that are capable of slowing cellular aging and carcinogenesis without affecting the normal growth of healthy cells. Countless in-vitro, animal studies, and epidemiological studies in humans have shown that green tea has a strong anticarcinogenic effect, both in the prevention of cancer in the first place and the inhibition or cancer cell growth and proliferation. This evidence has been so convincing that the National Cancer Institute has initiated a plan to utilize agents found in tea to develop chemo-preventative agents in human clinical trials. It seems that the cancer-inhibiting activity of green tea may extend far beyond it anti-oxidant activity, as green tea has also been impacted in the activation of detoxifying enzymes, an anti-inflammatory effect, and it seems that one or a number of components may directly inhibit cancer cell growth possibly even initiate apoptosis (programmed cell death, an abnormal cell will usually “commit suicide” to avoid becoming cancerous- cancer has the acquired ability to avoid this process, allowing it to proliferate)

Cardiovascular disease risk

Ancient Chinese medicine has used green tea extensively for its blood-pressure reducing effects and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. While the mechanism behind these effects is not currently understood, they are most likely associated with the polyphenol-induced antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of green tea. Animal studies have shown that green tea polyphenols, particularly EGCG, are associated with a decrease in LDL (bad cholesterol) and total cholesterol levels. Any agent that acts to raise the HDL to LDL ratio is cardio-protective, preventing the formation of atherosclerotic lesions (buildup of plaque in the arteries which eventually causes blockage resulting in stroke or heart attack). Uncontrolled oxidation is also associated with atherosclerosis; it seems that the polyphenols found in green tea promote cardiovascular health through a number of mechanisms. We have yet to show many of these mechanisms at work in humans, but epidemiological studies have shown time and time again that green tea show similar cardio-protective effects in humans to those seen in animals.

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