Tag Archives: polyphenols

Tea – A Cup of Good Health

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Tea stops tumors causing heart disease and stroke, according to Laboratory Studies.
And as it contains clout, it protects against dental cavities.
Also, hundreds of compounds in tea, called polyphenols, act as antioxidants.
Meaning, they help neutralize harmful oxygen molecules in the body known as free radicals, which have been linked to cancer, heart disease, and various less serious problems, such as wrinkles.
“In General polyphenols are very good antioxidants. But tea contains the best polyphenols, and tea has a lot of them,” according to Joe A. Vinson, PHD, professor of analytical chemistry at the University of Seranton in Pennsylvania.”They make up nearly 30% of tea’s dry weight.” This may help explain why tea is the most popular beverage in the world.

Protection of arteries
The results of blocked arteries, high blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke,, don’t happen over night.
Years of steadily increasing damage are proceeding, in which dangerous low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol oxidizes and gradually makes arteries stiff and narrow.
Tea can solve this problem. Polyphenols in tea are extremely effective in preventing cholesterol from oxidizing blood vessels. In fact, one of the polyphenols in tea, epigallocatechin (EGCG), was able to neutralize five times as much LDL cholesterol as vitamin C, the strongest of the antioxidant vitamins. Why are the polyphenols in tea so effective? The reason is because they can work in two ways.
They block the harmful effects of oxidized LDL cholesterol in the blood stream and at the artery walls, where LDL really produces atherosclerosis, says Dr. Vinson.

Rresearchers from a Dutch study, involving 880 men, found that those who ate the most flavonoids, a large phytochemical family, including polyphenol in tea, had a 58% lower risk of dying from heart disease than those who ate the least. After further analyzing the results, it was revealed that the healthiest men were those who were getting more than half their flavonoids from black tea, and the rest from onions and apples.
You don’t have to drink lots of tea to get the benefits. In the Dutch study the healthiest men drank about 4 cups of tea per day.
Just as the tea protect arteries leading from the heart, the same effect happens on arteries in or leading to the brain, says Dr. Vinson.
A new Japanese study found that people who drank at least 5 cups of green tea daily had a whopping 62% lower risk of having a stroke from clotting arteries. According to experts, antioxidants in green tea help sticky cells that clump together to form clots, called platelets, to slide safely past each other. When there are no clots, there can be no strokes.

Cancer protection
When you grill a hamburger, compounds called heterocyclic amines are formed on the surface of the food. The body transforms these chemicals into more dangerous forms, which can cause cancer, according to John Weisburger, MD, PhD,vice president for research and director of the Naylor Dana institute for Disease Prevention, in New York,
Other compounds found in tea, called polyphenols, prevents the formation of potential carcinogens, Dr. Weisburger says. In other words, they help stop cancer before it starts.

Skin cancer protection
Cancer researcher Hasan Mukhtar, PhD, of the department of dermatology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, has seen tea stopping cancer at each stage of its life cycle, arresting both its growth and spread. And where cancerous tumors have already formed, he has seen tea shrink them.
Dr. Mukhtar studied the effect of sunburn skin on laboratory animals and found that the animals given tea developed one-tenth as many tumors as those given water. Even when the tea-given animals developed tumors, they were often benign, not cancerous. What’s more, tea was equally effective whether given as a drink or applied to the skin. Some cosmetics companies have started adding green tea to skin products for its potential protective benefits.

Dental protection
Tea also help prevent toothache, since it contains many compounds, polyphenols as well as tannin, that act as antibiotics. In other words, tea removes the bacteria that promote tooth decay.
Tea also contains fluoride, which provide further dental protection. When researchers at Forsyth Dental Center in Boston tested a variety of foods for their antibacterial qualities, they found that tea was far and away the most protective.
Researchers at Kyushu University in Fukioka, Japan, have identified four components in tea – tannin, catechin, caffeine and tocopherol ( a vitamin E-like substance) – that help to increase the acid resistance of tooth enamel. This quartet of compounds was made even more effective with the addition of extra fluoride. The extra boost made tooth enamel 98% impervious to the action of acids on the teeth.

Different colors of tea
You can have Green tea, Black tea, Vanilla maple tea, Raspberry tea, Black currant tea, Apricot tea. Which tea has the most healing polythenols? It makes no difference, as long as it is real tea and not herbal tea, which doesn’t contain leaves from the Camellia sinensis , the tea plant. There is not much difference among them. They all contain leaves from the same plant.
However, they are not identical. The lightest leaves, green and white, are minimally-processed and, in general, retain more disease-protective polyphenols and other antioxidants. But darker teas contain healthy theaflavins, which form when their polyphenols ferment and turn orange-red.

Here follows an overview of the various “real” teas:
Black – The color refers to the leaves, the beverage is deep amber. Black tea varieties include Darjeeling and Earl Grey; flavors range from spicy to flowery. Black tea may lower the risk of heart disease and colon cancer; it can also inhibit bacteria that cause cavities and bad breath.

Green – If you find the flavor to “grassy”, try jewel green matcha or Japanese sencha. Green tea has been shown in numerous studies to help prevent many kinds of cancer, lower cholesterol and boost immunity.

Oolong.- Midway between green and black tea in color, flavor, and antioxidant action, oolong has a fresh floral or fruity aroma. When you drink three cups a day, it may help relieve itchy skin rashes.

Pu-ehr. (poo-air) -This dark red tea has an earthy flavor reminiscent of coffee and tobacco.
It’s considered a delicacy in China ( you can purchase it on line), where it’s processing is a highly guarded secret. The most oxidized of teas, pu-ehr is said to mellow and improve with age, like wine. It may help reduce cholesterol.

White.– Rare and somewhat expensive, the least processed tea has an extremely subtle flavor. But it does contain more antioxidants than other teas. Test-tube studies show that it can block DNA mutations (which trigger tumor formation). A study on rats discovered it prevented precancerous colon tumors.

How to get the most Steep for three minutes
It takes three minutes for it to release the health-promoting compounds. That’s also the time researchers use in their studies on tea. Longer steeping causes the tea to go bitter.
Use tea bags.
The pulverized content of tea bags release more polythenols than the larger loose leaves.
That’s because the tiny particles in the bag yield more surface area for polyphenols to dissolve into hot water.

Choose your flavors
Although green tea has been more thoroughly researched than the black variety, both kinds show equally salutary effects, says DR. Vinson. If you prefer decaffeinated tea, that’s okay. The removal of caffeine has little effect on tea’s polyphenol content. The same holds for bottled teas, iced tea, and tea made from mixes. In fact, some soft drinks and juice companies have been so impressed with the benefits of tea that they have begun fortifying their beverages with green tea. Check out your health food store for new products.
Don’t use milk – at least for now. According to an Italian study, adding milk to tea, as the British do, blocked tea antioxidant benefits. “There is some evidence that milk protein binds to some of the tea compounds and blocks their absorption. But those compounds could get unbound in the stomach. So we’re not so sure milk is bad,” says Dr. Vinson.

Keep it fresh
When making your own iced tea, drink it within a few days. “And make sure you cover it to keep it fresh when you refrigerate it” he advises. When you keep iced tea for longer than
a week, the concentration of compounds falls off. Many bottled and powdered iced teas remain spectacular antioxidant levels. In one prevention magazine analyses of antioxidants in various commercial iced teas, even the lowest-scoring convenience iced teas contained at least as many antioxidants as fruits and vegetables, such as strawberries and spinach! But highest honors went to home-made iced tea- cold-brewed refrigerator and classic hot-brewed tea that was than chilled came in even with each other for antioxidant levels. (One tip: shake cold-brewed tea before removing tea bags. It seems to knock more antioxidants into the liquid.)

Drink tea after eating meat
Because polyphenol compounds in tea help to block the formation of cancer-causing chemicals, it’s a good idea to have a cup of tea after eating fried or charred meat.

Doctor’s top tip
When you are a sneezer, drink more green tea, It may be useful against a wide range of sneeze- starting allergens, including pollen, pet dander and dust. Go for two to three mugs a day.

Protection against Cancer with Olive Oil

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When researchers started studying Greeks living on the island of Crete more than 40 years ago, they were amazed to find that although the traditional Greek diet is very high in fat, people had exceptional low rates of heart disease.
Olive oil plays a critical part in their diet and we would do well if we follow their example. Olive oil, which is made of crushed olives, not only appears to lower the risk of heart disease, it may reduce the risk of various forms of cancer as well.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), long-known for its heart health benefits, has now been identified for its rapid destruction of cancer cells. While scientists have proven that the oleocanthal compound found in EVOO causes cell death in cancer cells, they have been unable to provide an explanation for this phenomenon until now. Paul Breslin, David Foster, and Onica LeGendre offer answers in their paper “(-)-Oleocanthal Rapidly and Selectively Induces Cancer Cell Death Via Lysosomal Membrane Permeabilization (LMP),” published in Molecular & Cellular Oncology.

In their recent study, the researchers discovered that the key to understanding the toxic effect of oleocantha in cancerous cells lies in its reaction with the lysosomes of the cell, where the cells store waste: the oleocantha ruptures the cancer cell lysosomes causing cell death within 30 minutes to an hour while leaving un-cancerous cells unharmed. This suggests that the lysosomal membranes of cancerous cells are weaker than those of uncancerous cells. Because of oleocantha’s targeted damage to cancer cells, it may prove an ideal option for therapeutic cancer treatment. Paul Breslin, co-author of the study, said “The mechanism of killing cancer cells and sparing healthy cells, lysosomal membrane permeabilization, has been hypothesized as a possible mechanism of effectively killing cancer cells and sparing healthy tissues but has never been realized before. Our realization of this makes this paper of particular therapeutic interest for cancer treatment.”

The study’s focus on the effect of oleocantha on cancerous and un-cancerous cells leads to larger implications about the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in EVOO. Breslin stated, “the Mediterranean diet is known to be associated with a reduced risk of many different kinds of cancer. Whereas the entire diet likely has many benefits, this study points directly to the olive oil phenolic, oleocanthal, as playing an especially important role in these observations. As more people turn to the Mediterranean diet as a healthy life option, oleocanthal is growing in its significance as a key active component of this diet.”

All fats, from butter and margarine to olive oil, contain almost the same number of calories. But they behave quite differently inside the body. Saturated fats, for example, which are found mainly in meats and dairy foods, are incredibly destructive, because the body can’t rid itself easily of harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. The kind that blocks arteries and raises the risk of heart disease.

Olive oil. However, is a monounsaturated fat, with no more than 2 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon. Olive oil is recommended by the American Heart Association for your food preparation. When you replace saturated fats in your diet with olive oil lowers LDL cholesterol while leaving the beneficial high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol alone.
Compared with butter, olive oil also gives us a feeling of being more satisfied. The olive oil-loving Greeks eat very little butter or margarine. Additionally, their main meals usually consists of vegetables and legumes instead of meats.
So even though they use a lot of olive oil, they get very little saturated fat. Olive oil helps to prevent many cancers by protecting the cells in your body from oxidation.

Extra-virgin olive oil may also help lower the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, according to a Greek study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Experts believe extra-virgin olive oil reduces the risk of rheumatoid arthritis because of its anti-inflammatory effects. One study found that olive oil is similar to ibuprofen in reducing inflammation.
Besides the monounsaturated fat in olive oil , it also contains other disease-fighting compounds that can prevent damage in the arteries before it starts.

Several of the compounds in olive oil , like polyphenols, are powerful antioxidants. This means that they are able to destroy free radicals before they can do damage.This results in keeping your arteries clear when you use olive oil.
Although olive oil is best known for protecting the heart, research suggests that it may also protect the breasts as well . In a study involving more than 2,300 women, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Greece found that women who used olive oil more than once a day, had 25% lower risk of breast cancer compared with those who use it less often.
As a matter of fact, Greece women are much less likely to die from breast cancer than are American women.

Olive oil is rich in vitamin E, which has proved to stop cellular damage that can lead to cancer.And of course, the same polyphenols that help prevent free radicals from damaging the heart may play a role in preventing cancer as well. All types of olive oils are rich in monounsaturated fats, but not all have equal amounts of disease fighting polyphenols.
Some olive oils are quite rare and exquisitely flavored and priced. Others are much more affordable. Many cooks keep two (or more) kinds of olive oil in the kitchen – a gourmet oil for drizzling on salads or pastas and a heartier oil to use for cooking.

Extra-virgin is the Cadillac of olive oils. It’s usually used as a flavoring oil and not for cooking. When you buy extra-virgin olive oil, look at the color. The deeper the color, the more intense the flavor. This type of oil is made from the first pressing of perfectly ripe olives, which leaves the polyphenols in and the bitter acids out.
Although it’s a little bit more expensive, studies have shown that it’s worth your money to buy extra-virgin olive oil. Researchers in Spain asked 24 men to use refined olive oil for 3 months and extra-virgin olive oil for 3 months.
They found that the antioxidants in extra-virgin olive oil kept their LDL or bad cholesterol from oxidizing and slowed the
formation of plaque in the arteries, but the refined oil didn’t offer this protection.
Pure (also called virgin) olive oil is paler than extra-virgin and has a milder flavor. It’s usually used for low- to medium heat frying.

Light olive oil is often used by people who wants the heart-healthy benefits of mono- unsaturated fats but don’t want the strong olive taste. It endures heat well, so you can use it for high-heat frying.

Store it cool.
If you don’t use a lot of olive oil, it tends to go bad on the shelf. It gives up both its good taste and also its protective compounds. To keep olive oil fresh, store it in the refrigerator or another dark, cool place. When you bring it back to room temperature, it will quickly restore it’s nature. Or look for an olive oil that comes in a dark bottle to keep the light from damaging it’s benefits. And buy only what you need within 2 months to prevent the oil of deterioration and tasting stale.