Study: Green Tea Reduces Lung Cancer Risk

Green tea has been part of traditional medicinal practice for centuries, and modern medical science has been giving us one great reason after another to enjoy green tea on a daily basis.

Whether for maintaining our youthful glow, for heart health, or simply the sheer enjoyment of the experience, Tonic has been singing the praises of the warm brew.

And once again, we're here to tell you that it's time to put the kettle on.

Medical researchers in Taiwan have released a study that further bolsters the already formidable body of evidence indicating that drinking green tea delivers powerful payoff in supporting good health. As the BBC reports, the medical team finds that a daily cup of green tea dramatically cuts the risk of developing lung cancer.

In an exercise of stating the obvious, the research team points out that the findings are absolutely not to be taken as an excuse to continue a smoking habit, and that the best course of proactive health prevention is to ditch the habit.

Still, the results do reveal a distinct risk reduction benefit tied to green tea that accrues to smokers and nonsmokers alike. Among nonsmokers, individuals who drink no green tea have a risk of developing lung cancer that is five times greater than those who drink at least one cup per day. Among those who smoke, not drinking any green tea is associated with a lung cancer risk that is 12 times the risk seen in smokers who drink green tea.

Previous studies have singled in on polyphenols, a class of chemical compound contained in green tea, owing to their capacity to restrict the growth of cancer cells. The study just undertaken by doctors at Shan Medical University suspect that a combination of polyphenols and specific variations among human genetics combine to bring about these happy and healthy results.

Photo courtesy of Kanko, via Flickr