ToutingTeaIlovecoffee.Ilovethewayitsmells.Ilovethewayittastes.（AlthoughI’msosensitivetocaffeine,evenacupofcoffeemakesmetalkasfastasRobinWilliamsmightsoundifhewereonspeed—and,hey,doyouhavetodrivesoslowly?）ButIdrinkteanow.Mostofthetime.Apparently,I’mnotalone.Teaisthemostwidelyconsumedbeverageintheworld,otherthanwater.Over6.6billionpoundsofteaareproducedeachyear.Why?Moreandmoreresearchisdocumentingthatwhatweincludeinourdietisasimportantaswhatweexclude.Teacontainsavariety—perhapsthousands—ofpowerful,protectiveantioxidantsubstancescalledpolyphenols,especiallyflavonoidssuchascatechins,thatmayhelpreducetheriskofsomeofthemostcommonchronicdiseases.Forexample,astudywaspublishedtwoweeksagointheJournaloftheAmericanMedicalAssociationthatfollowedmorethan40,000Japanesemenandwomenoveraseven-toeleven-yearperiod.Theyfoundthatgreenteaconsumptionwasassociatedwithareducedmortalityduetoallcausesexceptcancer.Themoregreenteatheydrank,thelowertheirriskofdyingearly.Researchersfoundthatthattheoverallriskofprematuredeathduetoillnesswas26-percentloweramongthosewhoconsumedfiveormorecupsadaycomparedthosewhodranklessthanonecupperdayofgreenteaaftersevenyearsoffollow-up.Interestingly,theeffectsofteaonreducingtheriskofcardiovasculardiseasewerenotcausedonlybychangesintraditionalriskfactorssuchascholesterollevelsorbloodpressure.Thepolyphenolsingreenteaappeartohavepowerfulantioxidantpropertiesandarescavengersforfreeradicalsthatotherwisecoulddamageyourcells.Thesepolyphenolsmaydirectlyandbeneficiallyaffectcoronaryarteryblockages（atherosclerosis）,dilateyourarteries,andalsohelpreducetheformationofbloodclots.Greenteaalsohassignificantanti-inflammatoryeffects.Blackteaandoolongteaswerenotfoundtobequiteasprotectiveasgreentea.Unfortunately,about77percentoftheteaproducedandconsumedintheworldisblacktea,only21percentisgreentea,andlessthan2percentisoolongtea,accordingtoarecentstudyintheInternationalJournalofCardiology.Thetotalconcentrationoftheprotectivecatechinsinthebloodafterdrinkinggreenteaisthreetimeshigherthanafterdrinkingblacktea.Still,whilegreenteaisbest,allteashavebeenshowntohavehealthbenefits.WhiletheJapaneseresearchersdidnotfindthatteareducedtheriskofcancer,otherstudieshave.Animalstudieshaveshownthatgreenteamayinhibitcancerformationoftheskin,lung,oralcavity,esophagus,stomach,liver,kidney,prostateandotherorgans.Inhumans,studiessuggestthatdrinkingteamayreducetheriskofdigestivecancers.Forexample,astudyofmorethan35,000postmenopausalwomeninIowa,publishedintheAmericanJournalofEpidemiologyin1996,foundthatthosewhodrankmorethantwocupsperdayofteawere32percentlesslikelytohavecancersthroughouttheirdigestivetract,includingreducedcancersofthemouth,esophagus,stomach,colonandrectum.Fourormorecupsperdayoftealoweredtheriskofsuchcancersby63percent.Some（butnotall）studieswithvaryingdegreesofrigorsuggestthatdrinkingteamayreducetheriskofearly-stagebreast,prostate,ovarianandlungcancer.Inonestudy,green-teaextractwasfoundtostimulateprostatecancercelldeath.TheevidencewasstrongenoughtointeresttheNationalCancerInstituteinconductingaphaseIIstudyofgreen-teaextractinmenwithmetastaticprostatecancer,whichisnowinprogress.Otherstudiesindicatethatcertaincatechinsinteamayreduceyourriskofskincancer.Animalstudieshavetendedtoshowmorevalueofteainpreventingcancersthaninhumanstudies,perhapsbecauseofthedifferencesisindiet,environmentandgenetic...
