The Fight Against Breast Cancer: Going Green

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Article Title:

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The Fight Against Breast Cancer: Going Green

Article Description:

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In the past few years, a number of women have turned to green

vegetables in an effort to attempt to lower their risk of breast

cancer. With the disease affecting as many as one in eight

American women, it is only natural that women look to natural

remedies in an attempt to improve their odds in the fight against

this all-too-prevalent kind of cancer.

Additional Article Information:

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995 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2006-11-30 10:25:00

Written By: Marcus Stout

Copyright: 2006

Contact Email: mailto:Marcus.Stout@...

For more free-reprint articles by Marcus Stout, please visit:

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The Fight Against Breast Cancer: Going Green

Copyright © 2006 Marcus Stout

Golden Moon Tea

http://www.GoldenMoonTea.com

In the past few years, a number of women have turned to green

vegetables in an effort to attempt to lower their risk of breast

cancer. With the disease affecting as many as one in eight

American women, it is only natural that women look to natural

remedies in an attempt to improve their odds in the fight against

this all-too-prevalent kind of cancer.

Increasingly, though, researchers are looking to another green

food in an effort to cut breast cancer risk " " green tea. While

black tea and chamomile tea have long been thought to soothe

nerves and combat depression, it is green tea which is making

headlines in the world of cancer research.

A number of animal and laboratory studies have shown that green

tea can be highly effective in fighting tumors in the mammary

tissues. But only recently has the scientific community been

able to address the effect of green tea on breast cancer in human

beings.

A Case in Point

One significant study indicated that green tea extract prevents

breast cancer cells from producing a chemical that leads to

tumors. University of Southern California researcher H. Wu

and her team noted the dietary and lifestyle choices of more than

500 women with breast cancer and nearly 600 women without cancer

in Los Angeles. The women were of Asian descent and ranged in

age from 25 to 74. The researchers found that the healthy women

were far more likely to consume green tea. And those breast

cancer patients who did drink green tea were likely to consume

less of it than the healthy women were. In fact, drinking less

than six tablespoons of green tea a day appeared to cut a

woman " s risk for breast cancer by as much as 30 percent.

Unfortunately, women who consume a great deal of black tea do not

appear to be protected from the onset of breast cancer. Since

black tea is more popular in Western nations than green tea, such

news can be disappointing. But the fact that green tea " s

popularity is gaining strength in the West means that Western

women could enjoy the same breast cancer protection that green

tea drinkers in the Far East have enjoyed for years.

Green Tea and Breast Cancer Recurrence

But what about women who have already experienced breast cancer?

Is it possible for them to reduce their chances of a recurrence

by downing cups of green tea?

As you might expect, scientific researchers have been asking the

same questions. For instance, a Japanese research team addressed

those issues in their article, " Regular Consumption of Green Tea

and the Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence: Follow-up Study from

the Hospital-based Epidemiologic Research Program at Aichi Cancer

Center (HERPACC), Japan. "

As the Asian researchers noted, various studies indicate that

green tea can inhibit the development and growth of tumors.

Given that fact, they thought it helpful to examine the link

between regular green tea consumption and the risk of a

recurrence of breast cancer.

The researchers studied 1160 new surgical cases of female breast

cancers between June of 1990 and August of 1998. About 12

percent, or 133 of the subjects, appeared to experience a cancer

recurrence. But those women who consumed three or more cups of

green tea each day were less likely to see their breast cancer

make a comeback.

The reduced rate of recurrence was most likely among those women

with stage 1 and stage 2 breast cancer. However, the link was

not apparent for those women with more advanced stages of the

cancer.

Cautiously Optimistic

The researchers cautioned that these results need to be

interpreted carefully. However, they do suggest that breast

cancer patients who drink green tea daily may be able to prevent

their cancer from returning " " especially if their cancer was

diagnosed in the early stages. Therefore, the research team has

reason to be cautiously optimistic about the cancer-fighting

capabilities of green tea.

A Closer Look at Green Tea

In order to fully understand the potential of green tea as a

cancer prevention method, it is first necessary to examine the

composition of the beverage. There are a number of compounds

that make up green tea, including polyphenols and flavonoids,

caffeine, carbohydrates, tannins, fluoride, and aluminum.

As far as cancer prevention is concerned, the most critical

substance is the polyphenols " " chemicals which act as

antioxidants. These substances block cell replication enzymes

and therefore prevent the growth of cancer in the process.

In a number of studies, researchers gave rats with breast tumors

green tea to consume. These rats were then compared with rats

which drank water alone. Interestingly enough, the rats which

had been drinking green tea saw their tumor size reduced

considerably. In addition, the studies indicated that new tumors

were less likely to develop in rats which drank green tea.

How Much is Enough?

Still, you might be wondering how much green tea you would need

to consume in order to significantly reduce your risk of

developing breast cancer. Generally, doctors say that you need

to consume at least three to four cups of green tea each

day " " without additives such as milk or sugar " " in order to see an

impact.

Does decaffeinated green tea offer the same health benefits?

Actually, that depends upon the manner in which the caffeine has

been removed from the tea. If a solvent has been used to

decaffeinate the tea, it will contain reduced levels of EGCG,

lessening its effectiveness as a cancer prevention tool. You

might also consider taking your green tea in capsule form,

although there is little hard evidence to indicate that the

capsules are as effective as the beverage in cutting cancer risk.

A Final Note

A woman who has experienced breast cancer has no guarantees that

her cancer will never reappear. Even if she begins drinking

green tea, she might still undergo a recurrence. However, the

available evidence suggests that her risk of facing a second bout

of breast cancer decreases significantly when she becomes a green

tea drinker.

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Marcus Stout is the President of the Golden Moon Tea Company. Golden Moon Tea

carefully selects the finest rare and orthodox teas, which are processed slowly

and handcrafted with extreme care. At their website, you can learn more about

their current tea offerings, including their exceptional green tea

(http://www.goldenmoontea.com/greentea), white tea, black tea, oolong tea (also

known as wu-long and wu long tea - http://www.goldenmoontea.com/wu-long) and

chai. Visit http://www.goldenmoontea.com for all details concerning the Golden

Moon Tea Company's fine line of teas.