Green tea a day keeps the doctor away

Green tea, the hot favourite in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Middle East, have been labeled as a health drink, reducing illnesses and assuring a healthy life.

The Japanese study conducted showed that the risk of fatal cardiovascular disease steeped down by the consumption of several cups of green tea everyday.

However, British heart experts have said that the diet of Japanese people is much healthier than the people in the West and this can be one reason for their long life and reduction in heart risks.

Researchers from Tohoku University began the research in 1994 and for over a decade, monitored the health of their subjects. They examined data on 40,530 healthy adults aged 40 to 79 in north-eastern Japan, where green tea is widely consumed.

About 80% people in the region consume tea everyday and half of them devour more than three cups daily. In the 11 year study, 4,209 people died from various causes; 892 people died of cardiovascular disease and 1,134 participants died of cancer.

Compared with people who drank less than one cup per day of green tea, those who consumed five or more had a 16% lower risk of dying from any cause during the 11-year study. They also had 26% less chances from dying from cardiovascular diseases.

Proponents of green tea note that its medicinal benefits have been described for over 1000 years. The Kissa Yojoki, or Book of Tea, written by Zen priest Eisai in 1191, describes how drinking green tea can have a positive effect on the five vital organs, especially the heart.

The researchers also found out that women benefited more than men in this field. Shinichi Kuriyama of the Tohoko University Graduate School of Medicine in Sendai, Japan, elucidated the fact that green tea has antioxidant chemicals called polyphenols which prevent degradation of cell membranes by neutralizing the spread of free radicals (which occurs during the process of oxidation).

In recent times, many studies have investigated a link between the consumption of green tea and a lower incidence of a range of cancers in populations, with mixed results. However, the Japanese researchers have found no positive link between the two.

The other benefits of green tea includes easing the effects of alcohol, acting as a stimulant, curing blotchiness, quenching thirst, eliminating indigestion, curing beriberi disease, preventing fatigue, and improving urinary and brain function.

Green tea has also been claimed to be useful for cognition, stopping certain neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, treating arthritis, treating multiple sclerosis, increases fat oxidation and raises metabolism. It also helps in lowering LDL cholesterol.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration have rejected claims of health benefits for green tea.

Ellen Mason, a cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation said that fatalities in Japan due to heart diseases are already very low owing to the salubrious Japanese diet.

She said that Japanese diet as a whole was particularly healthy, and the findings may not apply to people eating Western diets, which contain more saturated fats, risking their lives to heart diseases more than any other country.

It is questionable whether drinking the same amount of green tea a day in the UK would have a substantial impact on levels of heart disease.

She added that clinical trials are now needed to discover whether something as simple as green tea really can prevent deaths from heart disease.