70% Said Who Cares If It's Healthy or Not

In my very previous post, Silverneedles (a reader's callsign) made an astute comment that I completely agree with: "I'm still going to drink my tea for its taste."

In fact, 70% of 6600+ people who voted on MSNBC.com agreed.

Click on the image to go to the article (rather old)

If you have followed my blog for sometime, you'd know that I am not one who preaches the health benefits of tea. I have always said, in essence, to drink tea and wine because they taste good. If in fact they are healthy, well, it's a plus. And not to forget: everything in moderation.

The focus of my previous article was really on the coincidence -- if there is such a thing -- of meeting a perfect stranger who turned out to be someone who had co-written medical articles on the benefits of green teas.

Thank you for your comment, Silverneedles!

Two Men in a Sandbox

I met Professor Zhang Zuo-Feng, M.D., Ph.D by pure chance. We met while accompanying our toddler daughters in a sandbox.

Naturally, we struck a casual conversation about our girls. That was when I learned that he came to the U.S. some 11 years ago from Shanghai and he is a professor of epidemiology at the prestigious UCLA School of Medicine (located within walking distance from the park we were at). Having nothing to relate to professionally, and being that he is a medical doctor from China, I shared with him my personal experiences with Chinese hospitals and the stark contrast on the policy of disclosing relevant information to the patients.

We chatted and parted ways shortly thereafter. At home, curious about the kind professor, I looked him up in the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine’s online faculty directory. He is apparently a professor of molecular epidemiology and thoracic oncology. His profile page contains a long list of medical publications that he had written or co-written in China and in the U.S. Three of the many medical writings, coincidentally, are tea related, and one of them is quite relevant to me as a wine drinker (relevant parts highlighted in maroon).

A coincidence? If I meet him again next time, perhaps I should invite him for some tea. Here is a guy who has reviewed tea in microscopic detail, so to speak.
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Lu QY, Jin YS, Pantuck A, Zhang ZF, Heber D, Belldegrun A, Brooks M, Figlin R, Rao J Green tea extract modulates actin remodeling via Rho activity in an in vitro multistep carcinogenic model.. Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. . 2005; 11(4): 1675-83.

Abstract:
Center for Human Nutrition, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

Alteration of actin polymerization and loss of actin filaments is a marker of cellular dedifferentiation and early malignant transformation. To study this phenomenon, an in vitro human urothelial model consisting of two cell lines, HUC-PC and MC-T11, were incorporated into the study design. These two cell lines have different malignant transformation potential. The effect of green tea extract (GTE), a potential anticancer agent, on actin remodeling was investigated. Upon exposure to the carcinogen 4-aminobiphenyl (4-ABP), the untransformed HUC-PC undergoes malignant transformation whereas the transformed MC-T11 progresses from noninvasive to invasive tumor. GTE induces actin polymerization in MC-T11 cells in a dose-responsive manner, but this effect is less obvious in the untransformed, more differentiated HUC-PC cells, which natively have higher actin polymerization status. In contrast, GTE antagonizes carcinogen 4-ABP induced actin depolymerization and stress fiber disruption in HUC-PC cells. In MC-T11 cells, GTE inhibits 4-ABP induced motility by increasing cell adhesion and focal adhesion complex formation. The effect of GTE on actin remodeling seems to be mediated by the stimulation of small GTP-binding protein Rho activity, because C3 exoenzyme, a specific inhibitor for Rho, blocks GTE-mediated Rho activation and stress fiber formation in MC-T11 cells. This study shows that GTE exerts an effect on cytoskeletal actin remodeling and provides further support for the use of GTE as a chemopreventive agent.

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Mu LN, Zhou XF, Ding BG, Wang RH, Zhang ZF, Jiang QW, Yu SZ [Study on the protective effect of green tea on gastric, liver and esophageal cancers]. Zhonghua yu fang yi xue za zhi [Chinese journal of preventive medicine]. . 2003; 37(3): 171-3.

Abstract:
School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the protective effect of drinking green tea on the development of gastric, liver and esophageal cancers. METHODS: A population based study was conducted in Taixing, Jiangsu province, including 206, 204, 218 cases, respectively, and 415 population controls.

RESULTS: Green tea decreased the development of gastric cancer risk by 40%. Dose-response relationships were observed between the length of time, concentration and quantity of green tea drinking and its protective effects on gastric cancer. For individuals who drink green tea for more than 250 g per month, the risk of gastric cancer reduced about 60%. Green tea might have protective effect on liver cancer. However, no protective effect of green tea was observed on esophageal cancer.

CONCLUSION: Green tea drinking might be a protective factor for gastric cancer. However, the protective effects of green tea on liver and esophageal cancer were not obvious.

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Mu LN, Zhou XF, Ding BG, Wang RH, Zhang ZF, Chen CW, Wei GR, Zhou XM, Jiang QW, Yu SZ [A case-control study on drinking green tea and decreasing risk of cancers in the alimentary canal among cigarette smokers and alcohol drinkers]. Zhonghua liu xing bing xue za zhi = Zhonghua liuxingbingxue zazhi. . 2003; 24(3): 192-5.

Abstract:
School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of green tea in decreasing the risks of gastric cancer, liver cancer, esophageal cancer among alcohol drinkers or cigarette smokers.

METHODS: A population based case-control study was conducted in Taixing, Jiangsu province.

RESULTS: In Taixing city, identified cases of stomach, liver and esophageal cancers were chosen with informed consent. The numbers were 206, 204, 218 respectively. Controls were chosen from normal population having lived in the area for longer than 10 years, also with informed consent. Green tea drinking seemed to have decreased 81%, 78%, 39% risk for the development of gastric cancer, liver cancer and esophageal cancer among alcohol drinkers. It might also have decreased 16%, 43%, 31% on the risks of developing the three kinds of cancers among cigarette smokers. Interaction assessment showed that drinking green tea could significantly decrease the risk of gastric cancer and liver cancer among alcohol drinkers, with ORs of interaction item 0.23 (95% CI: 0.10 - 0.55) and 0.25 (95% CI: 0.11 - 0.57) respectively.

CONCLUSION: Habit of drinking green tea seemed to have significant protective effects on the development of both gastric and liver cancer among alcohol drinkers while, green tea also having some protective effect on esophageal cancer among alcohol drinkers and on three kinds of cancers among cigarette smokers.