I know the story below sounds a little too  convenient considering what we are experiencing with H1N1, but I had to share it anyway. Just a thought since the swine flu vaccination is hard to come by…Oh yea, I do have an appointment for a swine flu shot for next Wednesday but I am going to be drinking my green tea regardless.

Scientific Research Backs My Natural Remedy For Swine Flu

Can green tea do that? A literature review of the clinical evidence.  Preventive Medicine 49 (2009) 83–87 

Objective. Habitual green tea consumption has long been associated with health benefits including chemoprevention and cardiovascular protection. This non-systematic literature review presents the clinical evidence to date. Method. A literature review of peer-reviewed articles on observational and interventional studies was conducted to include green tea, its extract or its purified polyphenol (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). Electronic databases searched included PubMed (1966–2009) and the Cochrane Library (Issue 4, 2008). Results: observational studies are inconclusive on the benefits of habitual consumption of green tea in the prevention of most cancers. However, there are trends towards prevention in breast and prostate cancers. Interventional studies have demonstrated reduction in relapses following surgical resection in colorectal adenomas and increased survival rates in epithelial ovarian cancer. Observational studies indicate that green tea may provide protection against hypertension and reduce the risk for stroke, and interventional studies are providing biochemical and physiological evidence. Conclusion. Although the overall clinical evidence is inconclusive, habitual green tea consumption may be providing some level of chemoprevention in prostate and breast cancer. Green tea may also attenuate the risk factors association with the development of atherosclerosis thus reducing the incidence of cardiovascular events and stoke.

“Taking a look at the clinical trials that have been conducted on green tea so far with such technical topics as cancer, hypertension and atherosclerosis, there are great emerging results of daily consumption of green tea.  400 milligrams of EGCG is the amount of antioxidants from green tea that have been identified as the “right amount”.  – Josh Smith 

Objectives To investigate the association between green tea consumption and liver cancer incidence. Methods: We prospectively followed 41,761 Japanese adults aged 40–79 years, without a history of cancer at the baseline or any missing data for green tea consumption frequency. Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusted for age, alcohol drinking, smoking, the consumption of coffee, vegetables, dairy products, fruit, fish, and soybean. Results Over 9 years of follow-up, among 325,947 accrued person-years, the total incidence of liver cancer was 247 cases. We found that green tea consumption was inversely associated with the incidence of liver cancer. In men, the multivariate-adjusted HRs (95% CIs) for liver cancer incidence with different green tea consumption categories were 1.00 (reference) for\1 cup/day, 0.83 (0.53–1.30) for 1–2 cups/day, 1.11 (0.73–1.68) for 3–4 cups/day, and 0.63 (0.41–0.98) for C5 cups/day (p for trend = 0.11). The corresponding data among women were 1.00 (reference), 0.68 (0.35–1.31), 0.79 (0.44–1.44), 0.50 (0.27–0.90) (p for trend = 0.04). Conclusions Green tea consumption is associated with a reduced risk of liver cancer incidence.

“Following over 40,000 individuals for 9 years has shown a strong association between decreasing the risk of liver cancer and drinking green tea.  Liver cancer is the 6th most common cancer and drinking 5 or more cups of fresh green tea per day significantly decreases the risk of liver cancer.” – Josh Smith

Body Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance in Relation to Habitual Caffeine Intake and Green Tea Supplementation.  Obesity Research (2005) ;13:1195–1204. 

Objective: Investigation of the effect of a green tea-caffeine mixture on weight maintenance after body weight loss in moderately obese subjects in relation to habitual caffeine intake.

Research Methods and Procedures: A randomized placebo-controlled double blind parallel trial in 76 overweight and moderately obese subjects, (BMI, 27.5 ± 2.7 kg/m2) Matched for sex, age, BMI, height, body mass, and habitual caffeine intake was conducted. A very low energy diet intervention during 4 weeks was followed by 3 months of weight maintenance (WM); during the WM period, the subjects received a green tea-caffeine mixture (270 mg epigallocatechin gallate; 150 mg caffeine per day) or placebo.

Results: Subjects lost 5.9 ±1.8 (SD) kg (7.0 ± 2.1%) of body weight (p ≥ 0.001). At baseline, satiety was positively, and in women, leptin was inversely, related to subjects’ habitual caffeine consumption (p ≥ 0.01). High caffeine consumers reduced weight, fat mass, and waist circumference more than low caffeine consumers; resting energy expenditure was reduced less and respiratory quotient was reduced more during weight loss (p ≥ 0.01). In the low caffeine consumers, during WM, green tea still reduced body weight, waist, respiratory quotient and body fat, whereas resting energy expenditure was increased compared with a restoration of these variables with placebo (p 0.01). In the high caffeine consumers, no effects of the green tea-caffeine mixture were observed during WM.

Discussion: High caffeine intake was associated with weight loss through thermogenesis and fat oxidation and with suppressed leptin in women. In habitual low caffeine consumers, the green tea-caffeine mixture improved WM, partly through thermogenesis and fat oxidation.

“This was a great article to provide more understanding about the correct amount of green tea to consume to improve weight loss.  However, the greatest insight from this double-blind clinical trial was the difference green tea made in the weight maintenance phase versus high caffeine consumption.”  – Josh Smith

Green Tea and Skin.  Säntosh K. Katiyar, PhD; Nihal Ahmad, PhD; Hasan Mukhtar, PhD.  Arch Dermatol. 2000; 136:989-994. 

Objective: To discuss the current knowledge of polyphenolic compounds present in green tea as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticarcinogenic in skin. Data Sources: References identified from bibliographies of pertinent articles, including our work in related fields. Study Selection and Data Extraction:  Articles were selected based on the use of green tea or its polyphenolic constituents for prevention against inflammation and cancer in the skin. Also discussed is the possible use of green tea to treat various inflammatory dermatoses. Data Synthesis: The polyphenolic compounds from green tea were tested against chemical carcinogenesis and photocarcinogenesis in murine skin. These green tea polyphenols were found to afford protection against chemical carcinogenesis as well as photocarcinogenesis in mouse skin. A few experimental studies were conducted in human skin in our laboratory. Analysis of published studies demonstrates that green tea polyphenols have anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogenic properties. These effects appear to correlate with antioxidant properties of green tea polyphenols. Conclusions: The outcome of the several experimental studies suggests that green tea possess anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogenic potential, which can be exploited against a variety of skin disorders. Although more clinical studies are needed, supplementation of skin care products with green tea may have a profound impact on various skin disorders in the years to come.

“Finding effective ways to protect our skin is not only good for appearances, but taking care of the largest organ in our bodies is important!  Products that provide support against inflammation and light induced carcinogens should be a the top of everyone’s list!”  – Josh Smith

Green Tea: Nature’s Defense against Malignancies.  Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 49:463–473 (2009).  Masood, S.  Sadiq, B.  National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.   

The current practice of introducing phytochemicals to support the immune system or fight against diseases is based on centuries old traditions. Nutritional support is a recent advancement in the domain of diet-based therapies; green tea and its constituents are one of the important components of these strategies to prevent and cure various malignancies. The anti-carcinogenic and anti-mutagenic activities of green tea were highlighted some years ago suggesting that it could reduce the prevalence of cancer and even provide protection. The pharmacological actions of green tea are mainly attributed to polyphenols that includes epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), epicatechin, epicatechin-3-gallate, epigallocatechin. Green tea and its components effectively mitigate cellular damage arising due to oxidative stress. Green tea is supposed to enhance humoral and cell-mediated immunity, decreasing the risk of certain cancers, and may have certain advantage in treating inflammatory disorders. Much of the cancer chemopreventive properties of green tea are mediated by EGCG that induces apoptosis and promotes cell growth arrest, by altering the expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins, activating killer caspases, and suppressing nuclear factor kappa-B activation. Besides, it regulates and promotes IL-23 dependent DNA repair and stimulates cytotoxic T cells activities in a tumor microenvironment. It also blocks carcinogenesis by modulating the signal transduction pathways involved in cell proliferation, transformation, inflammation and metastasis. The review is intended to highlight the chemistry of green tea, its antioxidant potential, its immunopotentiating properties and mode of action against various cancer cell lines that showed its potential as a chemopreventive agent against colon, skin, lung, prostate, and breast cancer.

“Isn’t it interesting that the intensity of the flu and cold season increases at the same time as the over consumption of food and alcohol during the holiday season?  Keep your immune system beefed up during these times by drinking the right amount of green tea on a daily basis.  Daily consumption of green tea can also have anti-inflammatory properties that are far-reaching.”  -Josh Smith

HOUSTON — Juanita Black has plenty to sing about. She turned 105 years old on Tuesday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Her granddaughter Amy Black shouted in her ear, “How does it feel to be 105?”

Juanita answered, “OK.”

Other than being a little hard of hearing, Juanita’s in excellent health. She only takes three medications and has never consumed alcohol, smoked or driven a day in her life.

Amy Black said, “She walked everywhere. That might be why she’s so healthy.”

She then asked Juanita, “What’s your trick? Why are you 105?”

Juanita laughed, “Because I drink green tea.”

Amy nodded, “That’s right, people. Green tea.”

Grenx – Green Tea Hp