Green tea.

[Ducky]

I've got websites saying "helps prevent cancer" cutting down on free radicals (I'm lost there) and it helps with antioxidant anti aging whootenanny.


So what's the deal with green tea?


Oh yeah, I was looking through pub med but the big words made my head hurt...


Sites I refer to:

The Japanese One

The MIracle Of Green Tea on About.com



Help? What do studies show (for those that have access to more than just the abstracts on pubmed) and is it effective in doing anything but delivering caffeine to the system?


ETA:

The first sign of claims about cancer is usually when my BS meter goes through the roof. Is this stuff even remotely close to being effective at anything, or is it just another BS panacea?

 

[Perpetual Notion]

I don't know about scientific studies about green tea, but Andrew Weil has been promoting it for quite a while as a destroyer of free radicals. White tea is supposed to be even better.

 

[Ducky]

I don't know about scientific studies about green tea, but Andrew Weil has been promoting it for quite a while as a destroyer of free radicals. White tea is supposed to be even better.

Yeah, what the heck are free radicals and what's so important about destroying them?

Another claim on that about.com article was that green tea could destroy cancerous cells without harming healthy ones. That's a great thing! I wonder who won the nobel prize on that? Or why my oncologist didn't prescribe it?

Bah. It sounds a bit woo for me.

 

[Matabiri]

Yeah, what the heck are free radicals and what's so important about destroying them?

Free radicals.

Doubt.

 

[Terry]

So what's the deal with green tea?

It's delicious. I like to drink it in the afternoon, when if I drank coffee I'd be awake all night.

That's all.

--Terry.

 

[Terry]

There seems to be some evidence that green tea does have some anti-cancer effects. For instance Nature has some papers suggesting that in animals drinking the tea reduces tumors' ability to invade neighboring tissues.

Color me surprised.

--Terry.

 

[Ducky]

Thanks for all the responses.

A few questions then for discussion:

1) How much do we know about what free radicals do in the forming, growth of cancer?

2) How tightly controlled were the green tea studies?

3) If ECGC is effective, is it used as an extract or prescribed compound on it's own? If not, why?

4) What do we think about the BBC article above that seems to think the antioxidant and free radical theories may be flawed fundamentally?

Opinions?

 

[aargh57]

Quackwatch has a good article on all sorts of anti-aging stuff from a bunch of guys with letters after their names:
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/antiagingpp.html

"The scientifically respected free-radical theory of aging [36] serves as a basis for the prominent role that antioxidants have in the antiaging movement. The claim that ingesting supplements containing antioxidants can influence aging is often used to sell antiaging formulations. The logic used by their proponents reflects a misunderstanding of how cells detect and repair the damage caused by free radicals and the important role that free radicals play in normal physiological processes (such as the immune response and cell communication) [37-39]. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that ingesting fruits and vegetables (which contain antioxidants) can reduce the risk of having various age-associated diseases, such as cancer [40], heart disease [41,42], macular degeneration and cataracts [43,44]. At present there is relatively little evidence from human studies that supplements containing antioxidants lead to a reduction in either the risk of these conditions or the rate of aging, but there are a number of ongoing randomized trials that address the possible role of supplements in a range of age-related conditions [45-49], the results of which will be reported in the coming years. In the meantime, possible adverse effects of single-dose supplements, such as beta-carotene [50], caution against their indiscriminate use. As such, antioxidant supplements may have some health benefits for some people, but so far there is no scientific evidence to justify the claim that they have any effect on human aging [51-52]."

I've been drinking green tea too. I guess I'm buying into the hype. I figure it's probably better for me than coffee if nothing else.

 

[Ducky]

Quackwatch has a good article on all sorts of anti-aging stuff from a bunch of guys with letters after their names:
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/antiagingpp.html

"The scientifically respected free-radical theory of aging [36] serves as a basis for the prominent role that antioxidants have in the antiaging movement. The claim that ingesting supplements containing antioxidants can influence aging is often used to sell antiaging formulations. The logic used by their proponents reflects a misunderstanding of how cells detect and repair the damage caused by free radicals and the important role that free radicals play in normal physiological processes (such as the immune response and cell communication) [37-39]. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that ingesting fruits and vegetables (which contain antioxidants) can reduce the risk of having various age-associated diseases, such as cancer [40], heart disease [41,42], macular degeneration and cataracts [43,44]. At present there is relatively little evidence from human studies that supplements containing antioxidants lead to a reduction in either the risk of these conditions or the rate of aging, but there are a number of ongoing randomized trials that address the possible role of supplements in a range of age-related conditions [45-49], the results of which will be reported in the coming years. In the meantime, possible adverse effects of single-dose supplements, such as beta-carotene [50], caution against their indiscriminate use. As such, antioxidant supplements may have some health benefits for some people, but so far there is no scientific evidence to justify the claim that they have any effect on human aging [51-52]."

I've been drinking green tea too. I guess I'm buying into the hype. I figure it's probably better for me than coffee if nothing else.

Hey, thanks for the link! My mistake for not going to Quackwatch immediately.

Question -

Is the anti-aging reasoning above really realtive to cancer? Specifically, are cancers aging diseases? I am under 30 and was diagnosed with solitary plasmacytome of bone (I am now cancer free for over 8 months after surgery and radiation) and while most cases are in people over the age of 60, is it considered an aging disease?

I understand the bit about the cells detecting and repairing damage caused by free radicals, but is this enough to dismiss the claims outright?

 

[Frinkiak7]

Re: Re: Green tea.

It's delicious. I like to drink it in the afternoon, when if I drank coffee I'd be awake all night.

That's all.

--Terry.

Delicious indeed, although I usually prefer a nice Formosa oolong to green. Nothing gets me jumpstarted in the morning like a strong English Breakfast, Nilgiri, or 2nd flush Darjeeling with plenty of sugar.

/end total derail!