Can green tea prevent cancer?

There are observations that drinking green tea daily lowers the incidence of cancer. Epidemiologists noted that the Shizouka Prefecture of Japan, a coastal region southwest of Tokyo, had much lower death rate from cancer in men and women compared with that of the country as a whole. They found that the people in this area drank green tea as their staple beverage and to a much greater extent than the Japanese in the other parts of the country. Obviously, this interesting discovery needs more scientific research before the medical community accepts it as factually and statistically valid.

                  Why is green tea superior?

While black and green teas both come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, a shrubby tree native to Southeast Asia, the difference is in the processing technique. Tea leaves normally contain an enzyme which leads to oxidation of the leaves after they are harvested. Green tea leaves are gently heated and steamed to abort the oxidative process. Black tea leaves are permitted to undergo full oxidation and fermentation to achieve its distinctive taste and dark brown or even reddish color. But this process destroys polyphenol normally found in freshly harvested tea leaves. Thus, green tea, which is processed without oxidation, has significantly much higher amount of polyphenols among all varieties of teas.
Philip S. Chua, MD