Green tea can help fight cancer, as well as a variety of other illnesses

• "Tea is a miraculous medicine for the maintenance of health.
• Preliminary work continues to prove that green tea does enhance a person's health.
• Now, there's more evidence that green tea might be instrumental in preventing cancer.
• Cancer prevention powers Purdue University researchers Dorothy and D. James Morre recently found that EGCg-a compound in green tea-inhibits an enzyme needed for cancer cells to grow and can kill cultured cancer cells with no ill effect on healthy cells.
• Morre and her husband, who is the Dow Distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Purdue, have shown how green tea interferes with this enzyme that is necessary for the growth of many types of cancer cells, including breast, prostate, colon and neuroblastoma.
• The research continues "Both green and black tea have been found to inhibit cancer formation in many animal studies," says Dr. Allan H. Conney, chairman of the College of Pharmacy at Rutgers University and director of the Laboratory for Cancer Research.
• "The most recent studies indicate that people drinking green tea have a lower risk of developing stomach or esophageal cancer," continues Dr. Conney.
• These studies were done in Japan and in China, in people who had a high risk for developing stomach or esophageal cancer.
• Although the data demonstrate that green and black tea have cancer chemo preventive activity in animals, there is still a need for more studies in humans."
• While both green and black tea offer health benefits, green tea packs a bigger punch in terms of health benefits.
• That's because of a difference in the way the tea is produced.
• Green tea should not be used as a substitute to eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, but it will add beneficial antioxidants as part of a nutritious diet.