| How TEA may prevent disease : An introduction
Experiments have proved that Tea may indeed have medicinal propeties,if not mystical ones. The tea plant,Camellia Sinensis, is rich in a broad class of chemicals found in fruits and vegetables, called polyphenols, that may help fend off cancer and heartdisease. Reseach conducted in Netherlands determined that healthy seniors got 61% of their polyphenols from black tea. Polyphenols are what give tea it's body, it's flannel texture in the mouth. They're similar in chemical structure to compounds in spinach, grapes, peppers, and other produce that have been found to tie up unstable oxygen molecules,or free radicals.
Other experiments explain the apparent links between tea and good health observed in Asia. Japanese who drink morethen 10 cups a day, have lower rates of stomach cancer than those who drink fewer than 10 cups. And, compared to Americans the Japanese are heavy smokers, yet they have lower rates of lung cancer.
Tea also appears to slow absorption of some vitamins and minerals,particularly iron and colcium. Tea also contains caffeine about half as much as coffee per cup-and can create the same jitteriness, and withdrawal headaches as coffee if drunk compulsively.
 TEA and Heart Disease
Human epidemiology and animal studies suggest that tea drinking may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. It also reduced the animals blood cholesterol as well as the concentrations of low density lipoprotein. It also suggested that a diet containing green tea catechins prevented the blood pressure increase. A greater consumption of green tea was linked to a lower total concentration of cholestrol in the blood.
 TEA and Cancer
In a study conducted in Japan, the frequency of stomach cancer was lower in people who drank 10 or more cups of green tea daily. In a chinese study the consumption of green tea appeared to cut the risk of esophageal cancer.
Black, green, and oolong teas have also been found to reduce the numbers of nitrosamine induced tumors of stomach and intestine in rats. Black and green teas also appear to influence the family of liver enzymes called the cytochrome. Studies have also found that tea can inhibit the formation of nitrosamines, a group of highly active molecules that can be found within the body and cause mutations by attacking the DNA of living cells. It also exerted a protective effect against skin tumors in mice.
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