Green Tea Benefits - Prostate Cancer and EGCG

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=William_B_Harrison]William B Harrison

Prostate cancer is a growing problem everywhere, most particularly for men living in the developed world. In the United States, approximately one in six men well be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their life, and about one in every thirty-six men will die from it, making it the second leading cause of cancer related death amongst American men. And, as the population ages, it becomes an even greater threat as 80 percent of men 80 years old or older have cancer cells in their prostate. The momentum behind green tea as part of a lifestyle that promotes longevity and aids in disease prevention and management has been picking up very quickly recently, but what hard scientific data exists to suggest that it might stay the scourge of prostate cancer?

Tea, all of it, comes from more or less the same plant. The differences between green tea, black tea, oolong, white tea, or puerh are the mostly the result of growing conditions, processing, as well as the age and origin of the actual plant (from a clone, specific cultivar, etc.). This is of important because the process of making oolong or black tea involves oxidation by bruising, cutting or otherwise compromising the leaves and exposing the oxidative enzymes inside to the air outside, thus the rusty colour and distinctive flavour profiles, but it also has a serious effect on the chemical components of the end product, i.e. what ends up in your cup.

Green tea and white tea varieties are of particular interest when considering potential health benefits, due to green tea's high concentration of the extremely powerful polyphenol, Epigallocatechin Gallate, or EGCG. A mind numbing number of clinical and laboratory studies have been done on EGCG and its effects on human prostate cancer, and produced some VERY encouraging data.

One of the most commonly touted research findings was published in Cancer Letters in 1998 and showed EGCG's ability to induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in human prostate carcinoma cells. Many studies have followed that, confirming the results and more closely examining the mechanisms by which it is achieved.

A one year proof of principle study by the Sezione Di Biochimica at the Universita di Parma in Parma, Italy produced some very exciting results. A group of 60 volunteers with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, which is basically a microscopic lesion in the prostate which leads to the development of prostate cancer in 30% of cases, were treated in a double-blind placebo controlled study using 600 mg daily of a green tea catechin extract consisting mostly (51.88%) of EGCG. One year after the first biopsy (when no cancers were present), 9 cancers were found in the 30 participants who had received the placebo(go figure, 30%), while only 1 cancer was found in the group of thirty participants who received the Green Tea Catechins, which is down to about 3.3%!

These are only two examples of hard scientific data suggesting that green tea has some serious potential in the fight against cancer, but they are hardly enough to convince the energetic skeptic. So why stop here? Put the kettle on and get comfortable for some more reading! Knowledge is power and tea is medicine, take all you can get!

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Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Green-Tea-Benefits---Prostate-Cancer-and-EGCG&id=6580877] Green Tea Benefits - Prostate Cancer and EGCG