The virtues of taking tea.

It keeps cropping up in the news--tea takes the cake. Whether you take it green or black, the flavonoids in tea appear to provide a protective effect to the cardiovascular system and may also be preventive for cancer.

Cancer is the number two killer in the United States, second only to heart disease. An amazing one-third of cancer deaths can be attributed to nutrition and dietary factors according to experts, and therefore would likely respond to preventive lifestyle habits. Antioxidants and other phyto-chemicals are possible dietary factors that may be related to cancer incidence. Green tea is one of the latest of the therapeutic foods to attract attention from researchers. In Japan, green tea is acknowledged as an anti-carcinogenic substance associated with decreased incidence, severity, and recurrence of cancers.

Green tea contains polyphenols, chemicals that act as powerful antioxidants. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the primary component thought to have cancer preventive effects. It has been used in numerous animal and human studies, as well as in studies with isolated tumor cells and has been shown to have a powerful anti-cancer effect. Studies have associated tea drinking with lower breast cancer rates, slower growing tumors in breast cancer cases, and the prevention and treatment of skin cancer.

Tea has also been associated with reduced atherosclerosis, possibly because of substances called flavonoids contained in tea. That's a tall order for the dignified cup of tea. In research conducted in the Netherlands, 3,500 people were questioned about their diet and tea-drinking habits. The arteries of the study subjects were screened with X-rays at the time of the questionnaire and then again two years later. The degree of atherosclerotic build up in the arteries of these subjects was inversely correlated with the amount of tea consumed. Those who drank the least amount of tea had the worst arteries, and vice versa. This study controlled for the possibility that tea-drinkers as a group had healthier habits beyond their affection for tea.

Green tea is the same tea plant as the more familiar black teas. Black teas are just green teas that have undergone fermentation. However, the fermentation process alters the polyphenols rendering them less effective antioxidants. Next time you're considering a beverage, consider green tea. Although western medical research will scrutinize green tea further, it appears to have definite anti-cancer properties--and happens to taste great too.

But before you start downing tea by the gallon, remember tea, just like coffee, caffeinated sodas, and alcoholic beverages are all diuretics that dehydrate you with every sip. Dehydration is something all runners need to avoid conscientiously. Dehydration reduces performance, increases the risk of overtraining and illness, and can provoke you to drink yet more tea. A good rule of thumb is to drink an extra glass of water for every caffeinated beverage you consume. If you have any time left over after you brew your tea, drink it and the extra water, and take all those extra trips to the bathroom, maybe you can fit in a short run. (Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 159, No. 18, pp. 2170-2174, Nutrition and Cancer, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 151. 159; Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 83-87)