Green Tea and Prostate Cancer

According to a new study from Japan’s National Cancer Center, drinking five cups of green tea a day may reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 48%.

The Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study (JPHC Study) studied 49,920 Japanese men aged from 40 to 69. The participants completed a questionnaires at the start of the study to identify dietary intakes, including their habitual green tea consumption.

The study, initially established in 1990, followed the men through until 2004, and 404 cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed in this time. Of these cases, 114 were advanced cases, 271 were localized, and 19 were undeterminable.

The researchers admitted that they do not know exactly which one of the components of the beverage may be responsible for the benefits, and whether such effects were synergistic.

[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.

The four primary polyphenols found in fresh tealeaves are epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epicatechin.]

Well I guess it wouldn’t hurt to include drinking green tea in our daily lives because of the benefits already linked to tea and tea extracts: lower risk of certain cancers to weight loss, and protection against Alzheimer’s.

Findings were written in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Find more details from NutraIngredients.