Originally published July 27 2005
Plant chemical may be what makes green tea a disease fighter
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Studies have shown green tea may help prevent against cancer and coronary disease, and a researcher in the Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center suggests the reason for the tea's effectiveness may be that its prime antioxidant component, in the epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) plant chemical family, targets a stress protein necessary for the survival of all cells, including cancerous cells.
His laboratory demonstrated that the prime antioxidant component of green tea, which is in the family of plant chemicals called catechins---or epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) to be precise---zooms in on a key target in the cancer cell.
And the target is a big one: a normal stress protein, known as heat shock protein 90 (HSP90).
Heat shock or stress proteins are critical to survival of all cells, cancerous or otherwise.
Think of them as protectors that chaperone the thousands of worker-bee proteins that interact in and on the surface of our cells in the course of any one cell's life.
When cells are threatened by a treacherous environment such as heat (from which we get the name HSP), proteins curl up and then clump up.
Cancer cells are fast growing and on the march wherever they set up shop---breast, prostate, colon, bone marrow.
And in that superstressed state of attack, cancer cells produce abnormally high levels of HSP90 to protect their cancer-producing proteins.
A few months ago, his laboratory reported for the first time that EGCG binds to this protective stress protein important to cancer growth and survival and essentially takes it out of commission.
Because of its bitterness and the caffeine load of that much tea, that's hard to do.
No wonder that after a detailed analysis of numerous studies of green tea and cancer involving tens of thousands of patients, the Food and Drug Administration announced only two weeks ago that there is "no credible evidence" to support green tea's health claims when it comes to cancer.
And for the two cancers where the studies are the most promising, namely prostate cancer and breast cancer, the FDA calls it "highly unlikely" that green tea reduces the risk of either.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml