Discovered about 2500 years ago, tea has become over time the favorite drink of the inhabitants of our planet. Currently, 29 billion cups of tea are consumed worldwide each year, an average of approximately 100 cups per person!
Tea lovers are divided into two camps: on the one hand, the inhabitants of America and Europe , who prefer black teas; on the other, the Asians, who are big consumers of green teas. These taste preferences may seem unimportant at first glance. However, several scientific results obtained in recent years suggest that the consumption of green tea by Asian populations could help protect them against the development of several cancers. Why green tea rather than black tea? The answer lies in the way these types of teas are made.
Green tea or black tea
Whether green or black, all teas come from the leaves of the tea plant, a shrub called Camellia sinensis. The difference between green tea and black tea comes only from the procedure used to process the leaves after picking. For green tea, the leaves are dried as quickly as possible in order to avoid their fermentation whereas, on the contrary, the leaves which are intended for the manufacture of black tea are subjected to processes which promote this fermentation: there is then formation of oxidized pigments that give black tea its dark color.
The transformation of leaves into black tea has very important consequences for the anti-cancer potential of tea. Indeed, tea leaves are an extremely rich source of cancer-fighting molecules called catechins, which can constitute up to a third of the leaves’ weight. During the manufacture of green teas, these molecules remain intact and therefore retain their anti-cancer properties. On the other hand, during the fermentation process necessary for the manufacture of black teas, these molecules are degraded and lose all their anti-cancer properties for all intents and purposes. It is for this reason that the regular consumption of green tea leads to greater benefits than black tea in terms of preventing cancer.
The formidable molecule of green tea
Among all the catechins present in green tea, one plays a key role in the anticancer action of this drink, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, more commonly known as EGCG. This molecule is not only the most abundant catechin in green tea, but also the one with the strongest anti-cancer activity. In the laboratory, EGCG disrupts the growth of huge numbers of cancer cells and also blocks the ability of tumors to induce angiogenesis, i.e. the formation of a new network of blood vessels essential to their growth.
This effect is extremely important because angiogenesis plays a crucial role in the progression of tumors to a mature stage, a stage dangerous to health.
By drinking green tea daily, you therefore submit your body to doses of EGCG sufficient to block the progression of microtumors into virulent cancers! Moreover, many scientific studies suggest that regular consumption of green tea plays an important role in reducing the risk of developing several cancers, including those of the prostate, bladder, stomach and breast.
Drinking green tea daily is therefore a simple and effective way to use anticancer molecules of natural origin to prevent cancer.
How to prepare the tea green?
To be able to take full advantage of the anti-cancer properties of green tea, preferably choose Japanese teas, which are richer in anti-cancer molecules, and buy the tea in leaves rather than in bags. Infuse the leaves for at least 8 minutes to extract the maximum amount of anti-cancer molecules and always consume the tea freshly infused, as these molecules degrade
quickly on contact with water. Finally, to increase the duration of the anti-cancer action of the molecules present in green tea, consume the tea at regular intervals, three times a day.
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