Explore the Medicinal Benefits of Green Tea :: Essays Papers

Explore the Medicinal Benefits of Green Tea Tea, especially green tea, has been touted in many sources as having a plethora of medicinal properties. Much of the hype surrounding tea is in fact true. Tea is not a wonder drug, but it can combat some of the causes of the most deadly diseases in the United States. For over 4000 years it has been used as a medicine in China (Cheng 2397). By taking a cue from the Asian cultures, we in America are beginning to discover the benefits of this drink. Since green tea is not fermented, and thus enzymes do not destroy many of the polyphenolic compounds, it contains more beneficial compounds than either oolong or black tea. Tea is so powerful in fighting disease because the polyphenolic compounds it contains work as antioxidants. There are thousands of antioxidants compounds that help to inhibit the oxidation reactions caused by free radicals. The antioxidants latch onto free oxygen particles in the body and prevent them from doing damage to cells or tissue. The most prevalent antioxidant in green tea is a compound called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (Voelker 262). Epigallocatechin-3-gallate is unique because in lab tests it induced cell death in cancer cells, but left healthy cells unharmed. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio exposed it to cancerous skin, lymph, and prostate cells from both humans and mice and to healthy human skin cells. The compound killed the cancerous cells, and left the healthy cells untouched. Present in just 2 mg of green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate is a powerful chemical (Voelker 262). Green tea doesn’t always have to be ingested to combat cancer. A study published in the August 2000 issues of the Archives of Dermatology found that green tea polyphenols have both anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogenic properties on the skin (Katiyar, et al. 989). Experimental studies conducted on mouse skin found the polyphenols afforded protection against both chemical carcinogensis as well as photocarcinogenis (Katiyar, et al. 989). This information could be big news for those worried about the detrimental effects of the sun and daily chemical exposure on their skin.