See, It's Not Just Me About Green Tea

For many of those who have been following my work since the mid 80s, and a colleague or two over the years, there now is some additional data on risk from green tea.

We have reported on the risk of pancreatic cancer from green tea.

While I realize that most in the US go for headlines and hype rather than serious academic reporting, I am glad to have come across this data recently -

A recent study published in the journal, Biopharmaceutics & Drug disposition (Alemdaroglu et al, 2008), suggests that drinking either green or black tea may actually lower the bioavailability of folic acid. 

Warning for green/black tea drinkers!

and

This and previous research suggests that consuming green or oolong tea is associated with lower serum folate levels in pregnant women.  Given the potential adverse effects of folate deficiency on fetal malformations such as neural tube defects, pregnant women should restrict their intake of these teas during pregnancy. This research suggests that trying to offset the effect of green tea consumption by supplementation with vitamins or dietary intake of folate may not be effective.  Pregnant women may incorrectly assume that green tea is a healthy option given its other known salutary effects.

Warning for Pregnant Tea Drinkers

Vitamin B9 is folate, B vitamins

Selections from 20+ posts found on Natural Health News 

Natural Health News: Preventive Benefit of Coffee and Tea

Feb 03, 2011

Drinking coffee, decaf coffee, green tea or black tea was associated with a reduction in the risk of developing diabetes. For coffee, the reduction was dose-dependent, which is to say that the more coffee or tea drunk, the greater the ...

Green Tea Downside Possible

Feb 11, 2009

"We know that cancer patients look to green tea extracts among other natural supplements to complement their therapeutic regimens," Dr. Axel Schonthal, said in a statement. "We wanted to better understand how the compounds in green tea ...

Tea, you see

Apr 01, 2008

I recall those coffee house days of my teens when I sipped well brewed high quality Oolong tea from time to time. I have to admit I enjoy it, but I limit my intake because I know the dark side of green tea. ...

Read more »

Posted in: BioSupplemente,first natural health news,first natural news,folate,green tea,natural health news,vitamin B9

Preventive Benefit of Coffee and Tea

Helpful information but I suggest limiting your cups and using only organic.  And just another chance to caution on the green tea risk of pancreatic cancer: take heed.

The Archives of Internal Medicine, published by the American Medical Association (AMA), has recently released a comprehensive report on the benefits of coffee and tea for prevention of type 2 diabetes.¹ The report is a review of published studies and a pooled analysis of all the data (called a “meta-analysis”).
Drinking coffee, decaf coffee, green tea or black tea was associated with a reduction in the risk of developing diabetes. For coffee, the reduction was dose-dependent, which is to say that the more coffee or tea drunk, the greater the reduction in risk, about 7% per cup up to six cups a day.
The authors state that the effects may be due to the presence of phenolic compounds in coffee or tea that increase sensitivity to the effects of insulin, the hormone responsible for keeping blood sugar levels low.
The research described in this review is all observational: it follows the dietary habits of people and observes what diseases they develop. Observational research is sometimes inconclusive. To demonstrate the reality of the effect, a controlled interventional study would need to be done in which people were given pills of coffee or tea or a placebo and then followed for several years.
1. Huxkey R et al, Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee, and tea Consumption in Relation to Incident Type 2 Diabetes mellitus. Arch Int med 169: 2053-2063 (2009). 

Read more about coffee


Roasting, why coffee is fountain of youth

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Canadian researchers say roasting is the reason coffee provides antioxidant benefits that help people fight aging. Lead author Yazheng Liu and co-author David Kitts, both of the University of British Columbia, say antioxidants present in dark roasted coffee brew extracts result from the green beans being browned under high temperatures.
The researchers analyzed the chemical compounds produced during the bean's browning process -- the "Maillard reaction." In the 1900s, French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard studied the way heat affects the carbohydrates, sugars and proteins in food when grilling steaks or toasting bread.
"Previous studies suggested that antioxidants in coffee could be traced to caffeine or the chlorogenic acid found in green coffee beans, but our results clearly show that the Maillard reaction is the main source of antioxidants," Liu says in a statement.
However, Kitts, a food science professor and director of the food, nutrition and health program, says coffee beans lose 90 percent of their chlorogenic acid during the roasting process.
Antioxidants help in removing free radicals -- the end products of metabolism which have been linked to the aging.
The findings appear in a forthcoming issue of Food Research International.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/02/04/Roasting-why-coffee-is-fountain-of-youth/UPI-15391296802480/#ixzz1D6IAMVE6

Natural Health News 6.2008 Wake up and enjoy an aroma of health


Roasting Coffee Beans Dark Brown Produces Better Antioxidants

Coffee beans that are darkly roasted a deep brown provide a more powerful antioxidant benefit, a new study has found.Food science researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada say the most antioxidants in coffee are produced when the green-colored beans are browned at high temperatures. Lead author Yazheng Liu and colleague Professor David Kitts looked at what is called the "Maillard reaction" -- the chemical reaction triggered by cooking foods, in this case during the roasting of coffee beans. They found that the compounds produced during the roasting process are where coffee's antioxidants come from. Prior research has suggested they originate in either the caffeine or other ingredients. "Previous studies suggested that antioxidants in coffee could be traced to caffeine or the chlorogenic acid found in green coffee beans," Liu said in a statement. "Our results clearly show that the Maillard reaction is the main source of antioxidants." Antioxidants have been showed to bolster the immune system and slow the aging process, among other benefits. They help to eliminate free radicals, which are the damaging end products produced during metabolism. The findings, to be published in Food Research International, showed that "coffee beans lose 90 percent of their chlorogenic acid during the roasting process," Kitts said in a statement. The Maillard reaction was named for the French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard, who in the 1900s studied the effects of heat on proteins, sugars and carbohydrates in food, as in when steak is barbecued or bread is toasted. Prior research has had mixed results. Some studies have found that antioxidant levels are higher in dark-brown coffee beans, while some have found they're lower and others have concluded that the best antioxidants come from medium-roast coffee.

Read more »

Posted in: coffee,diabetes,first natural health news,green tea

Green Tea Downside Possible

I am aware that there are many studies supporting the use of ECGC from green tea for cancer and other health concerns.

I am also aware of the many serious side effects of cancer drugs which commonly this information is not provided those patients receiving them. This distresses me more when dealing with recombinant pharmaceuticals known as genetically engineered drugs.

What most people who strongly stand behind the use of green tea do not know is that it has the potential to cause pancreatic cancer.

I am sure the FDA has not tested all the possible interactions between drugs and I am also fairly certain that the same goes for herbal products.

Probably a good study would be to show how herbs and other nutritional approaches to cancer do more good than harm. And how they often offer cure, without long term damaging side effects, when pharmaceuticals do not.

Green tea may block activity of common cancer drug

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Some components of green tea may counteract the beneficial effects of a widely used anti-cancer agent called Velcade, also known as bortezomib.

"We know that cancer patients look to green tea extracts among other natural supplements to complement their therapeutic regimens," Dr. Axel Schonthal, said in a statement. "We wanted to better understand how the compounds in green tea interact with a cytotoxic chemical therapy and how that may affect patient outcomes."

In lab studies, Schonthal, from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, and colleagues evaluated the impact of green tea compounds on the efficacy of bortezomib against multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, and glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor.

Bortezomib normally fights cancer by inducing tumor cell death. However, Schonthal and colleagues were surprised to find that some of the green tea polyphenols and other components actually prevented bortezomib from killing tumor cells.

"Our surprising results indicate that green tea polyphenols may have the potential to negate the therapeutic efficacy of bortezomib," Schonthal said.

"The current evidence," Schonthal said, "is sufficient enough to strongly urge patients undergoing bortezomib therapy to abstain from consuming green tea products, particularly the widely available, highly concentrated green tea and EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) products that are sold in liquid or capsule form."

The findings of this study, the investigators emphasize, are specific for patients taking bortezomib as opposed to any other common cancer drug.

"Although the study has exposed detrimental effects of great tea in specific combination with Velcade, this should not minimize the previously reported potentially beneficial effect of this herb," Schonthal said. "Related studies with other types of cancer therapies are promising and green tea extract may actually improve the anticancer effects of other drugs."

SOURCE: Blood, online February 3, 2009.

Read more »

Posted in: American Cancer Society,bortezomib,consumer health,green tea,independent information,natural health news,natural news,pancreatic cancer