If you listen to the Food and Drug Administration, green tea has no
proven health benefits.

But if you listen to scientists around the world, green tea
possesses one of nature's most powerful antioxidants, EGCG, that in
many tests has stopped cancer cold.*

 

New research piles up daily, showing that modest doses of EGCG
(epigallocatechin-3-gallate) in green tea fights development and
progression of cancer. EGCG saved 90% of men at high risk from
developing prostate cancer and reversed leukemia (CLL) in women.in
recent studies.*

In test tubes, EGCG thwarts the growth of human cancer cells--of
the breast, prostate, lungs, ovaries, and liver. Dozens of studies
link green tea and EGCG to dramatically lower rates of a variety of
cancers.*

A flurry of new studies also suggests EGCG has broad-spectrum
powers against Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, heart disease,
infections, diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, arthritis,
dental cavities, gum disease, weight gain and premature aging.*

EGCG is increasingly recognized as a ubiquitous miracle worker
among the world's top researchers at leading medical centers.
Here's the latest research you need to know about this amazing
green tea chemical.

EGCG Stops Prostate Cancer

Taking green tea capsules virtually wiped out the development of
prostate cancer in men at high risk, says Italian researcher Dr.
Saverio Bettuzzi, University of Parma.

He gave men 600 mg a day of concentrated green tea catechins,
containing 300 mg EGCG, or a placebo for a year. All the men had
premalignant lesions, putting them at risk of progression to full
blown advanced and potentially fatal prostate cancer.

After a year, only one man (3%) in the group on green tea capsules
developed prostate cancer compared with 9 men (28%) on placebo.
Thus, the green tea was nearly 90% effective in preventing prostate
cancer, said researchers.

They attribute the anti-cancer activity to the daily 300 mg of
antioxidant EGCG. (the amount in 3 cups of brewed green tea)

As to whether green tea's EGCG can prevent prostate cancer, "the
answer is clearly yes," says Dr. Bettuzzi. (Betuzzi S. Cancer Res
2006 Jan15;66(2): 1234-40)*

EGCG Reverses Leukemia

The stunning news that green tea can stop leukemia comes from
researchers at the world-famous Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. They
documented that chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) did not progress
or regressed dramatically in four patients who took green tea
capsules or drank green tea.

The researchers had previously found that green tea's unique
antioxidant, EGCG, killed leukemic B-cells in test tubes. Some
patients, hearing this news, started taking EGCG in capsules or
drinking more green tea on their own.

Here are the remarkable results in four patients, as reported in
the medical journal (Leukemia Research) by hematologist Tait
Shanafelt, M.D. and colleagues at Mayo.

Patient One--A 58-year-old woman, diagnosed with CLL in June 2001
began taking green tea capsules in March, 2004. She took two
capsules per day, each containing 315 milligrams of antioxidant
polyphenols, including EGCG. Before taking the green tea capsules,
signs of her leukemia steadily worsened as verified by CT scans.

After a month of taking the concentrated EGCG-green tea capsules, a
CT scan showed regression of her cancer. The leukemia continued to
regress over the next year, shrinking cancerous lymph nodes by 50%
to "near normalization," as clearly documented by CT scans.

"She contines to do well taking daily oral green tea polyphenol
capsules 44 months after diagnosis and has not required
conventional therapy," the Mayo doctors write.


Patient Two--A 55-year-old woman with non-Hodgkins lymphoma
(similar to CLL in lymph node involvement) began drinking a cup of
green tea every day (made from two tea bags.) Within three months,
CT scans showed regression, and within ten months, revealed a 50%
decrease in the largest lymph node areas.


Patient Three--A 50-year-old woman with CLL for about six and a
half years, experienced a decline in white blood cell counts after
she began drinking green tea that provided about 300 milligrams of
polyphenols, including EGCG, a day. "She continues to do well
without conventional therapy," her doctors say.


Patient Four--A 60-year-old woman with CLL of five years duration,
began drinking eight cups of green tea a day in 2004 because she
was alarmed by a rise in her white blood cell count. Within a week
of starting the green tea, her white blood cell count plummeted,
and declined further over the next four and a half months. She
continues to drink green tea daily, and still has no symptoms from
her CLL, report the Mayo doctors.

Bottom line: Mayo's Dr. Shanafelt credits EGCG in green tea for the
anticancer activity. "This agent may provide new hope for CLL
patients," says Dr. Shanafelt. (Shanafelt TC, et al. Leukemia
Research, 2005, Nov. 30) *

EGCG Thwarts Breast Cancer

Green tea's EGCG kills breast cancer cells and may help prevent the
onset and progression of the malignancy. According to new studies
at the Uniformed Service University of Health Sciences in Bethesda,
EGCG killed breast cancer cells in cell cultures and blocked cancer
progression in animals.

Animals were innoculated with human breast cancer cells and then
given green tea polyphenols and specifically EGCG. Those getting
the green tea and EGCG had fewer tumors and did not develop them as
fast as animals given only plain water.

EGCG clearly killed breast cancer cells and inhibited spread of the
cancer, concluded researchers. Not surprisingly, new research also
shows that Asian Americans who drink green tea have a lower risk of
breast cancer. (Thangapazham RL, Cancer Lett 2006 Mar 3).*

EGCG Kills Ovarian Cancer Cells

A new focus on green tea's potential to prevent and treat ovarian
cancer shows that EGCG suppresses cancer cell growth by inducing
them to commit suicide. In short, EGCG selectively killed ovarian
cancer cells, leaving normal cells untouched. (Huh SW. Gynecol
Oncol 94:2004: 760-768)

Further, EGCG may be important in treating ovarian cancer, says
Marion M. Chan, at The State University of New Jersey. She finds
that EGCG not only kills ovarian cancer cells, but also increases
the potency of cisplatin, a common drug used to treat ovarian
cancer, by six fold. This means a lower dose of cisplatin could be
effective if combined with EGCG.

This is "potentially very important," says Dr. Chan, because high
doses of cisplatin used to curb ovarian cancer have serious side
effects limiting the drug's use. EGCG, she concludes "may alleviate
the probelm of cisplatin toxicity and resistance, a major obstacle
in chemotherapy for ovarian cancer."

Further evidence that green tea may help treat ovarian cancer comes
from Australian research showing that Chinese women with epithelial
ovarian cancer who drink green tea survive longer. Women who drank
at least one cup of green tea daily were 57% more apt to survive
three years than non-green tea drinkers. (Min Zhang. Int J Cancer,
112:465-469(2004).*

Other new research in cell cultures finds that EGCG also inhibits
activity that promotes colon cancer and liver cancer.*

How EGCG Short-Circuits Cancer

Amazingly, EGCG, animal studies show, can inhibit cancer at all
three stages--from the first stage of mutations of cells' genetic
material (DNA )that jumpstart malignancy; the the second promotion
stage or appearance of symptoms such as tumors, and the third
progression stage, the spread or metastasis of the cancer to other
sites.

EGCG works several ways, but new breakthrough research explains why
EGCG is so universally anti-cancer. Scientists have discovered
that EGCG can actually short-circuit cancer by blocking a
cancer-triggering protein. And EGCG does it better than cancer
drugs do, says Dr. Thomas A. Gasiewicz, University of Rochester
Medical Center.

"EGCG seems to target one protein that is particularly common
throughout our bodies," says Gasiewicz, "and does so with a degree
of precision that cancer drugs still aren't able to match."

Further, he says, EGCG appears to prevent cancer by stopping the
process before it can even get started in tissues and organs
including breast, prostate, bladder, colon, stomach, pancreas and
esophagus.

Specifically, EGCG binds to and deactivates a protein called HSP90
that signals the start of the cancer process. "As a result,
potentially harmful genes are less likely to get turned on, and the
cascade of events leading to cancer is cut off before it begins,"
explains Dr. Gasiewicz.

Drug companies are trying to develop pharmaceuticals that stop
cancer the same way EGCG does, but so far have been unsuccessful,
says the American Institute of Cancer Research in Washington.

Safety Factor: Could long-term use of green tea be harmful? A
recent study found no significant adverse effects from taking 800
milligrams a day of purified decaffeinated EGCG for a month. But
for most people, 300 to 600 EGCG daily is sufficient, research
suggests.*

  

 

*This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.