Green tea brings scientists a step closer to combatting cancer

By Matt Bernard

Green tea brings scientists a step closer to combatting cancer
Certain compounds in green tea have been linked with having cancer fighting properties.

Before you go out to the store and buy litres of green tea, you must be aware that this recent research does not suggest that just drinking it will cure cancer – rather it is the chemical found within the tea, Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), which researchers are finding particularly useful in fighting this disease when assisted by other drugs.

Combined with the cancer-fighting agency Herceptin, the ECGC helps form a stable and effective environment to deliver a drug to a tumour site – which may otherwise be destroyed without this chemical.

“It effectively protected the proteins against many obstacles from a point of administration to the delivery sites. The combined therapeutic effects of the green tea based carrier and the protein drug showed greater anticancer effect than the free protein,” told researcher Dr Joo Eun Chung of the Institution of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.

The health benefits of ECGC are plentiful and not just limited to cancer treatment. Researchers have found it to reduce cholesterol, blood sugar levels and risk of cardiovascular disease. Recorded in the Harvard Medical Journal, it was found that those who drank more than five cups of green tea each day had their risk of heart attack decrease by 26% and stroke by 16%.

While much research is still being done on the health properties of this tea, we can say one thing for certain: it’s time to start drinking more.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Print Recipe

BECOME A MiNDFOOD SUBSCRIBER TODAY

Let us keep you up to date with our weekly MiNDFOOD e-newsletters which include the weekly menu plan, health and news updates or tempt your taste buds with the MiNDFOOD Daily Recipe. 

Member Login