Green Tea

[greenghost]

I have always been something of a nutrition nut, but never much interested in that new age herbology stuff. Nevertheless, I have been pouring over the medical journals since my daughter was diagnosed with cancer. Basically, I have been trying to see what I can do to alleviate some of the secondary consequences of her chemotherapy and radiation therapy (both of which generate tons of free radicals in the body) and to see what I can do preventatively to keep her from having a recurrence of the disease.

And I have got to say that I am pretty impressed with the medical results associated with consuming green tea. Green tea has certain polyphenols (called catechins) in high concentrations. These catechins perform a number of really beneficial functions in human beings: (1) They are antioxidants, which means they scavenge free radicals in your body. [Free radicals cause DNA damage and consequently are a main cause of cancer. You get free radicals via diet (e.g., eating charred meat) and as a metabolic side-effect of exercise.] (2) Catechins are also especially effective in repairing the mitochondria in the heart and this keeps at bay the erratic fibrilations that make heart attacks lethal. (3) Finally, they also seem to increase your bodies insulin sensitivity, which means they should help with diabetes (and, if you work out, they should help with building muscle). A

As far as I can tell, there is no serious downside to drinking green tea. So it might be wise to start drinking it, if you haven't in the past. (Incidentally, if you can't stand the taste, like my daughter, just brew some, cool it in the fridge, and mix it into your glass of OJ in the morning.)

Just my 2 cents.

[Cato]

Marc

Please keep us posted on your daughter.

I am very interested in the info you posted on tea. I know very little about tea, but I am from a terrible history of heart disease, and have already (at age 43) had a by pass.

What kind of tea should I try. I mean what do you ask for? Do you just drink hot teal like coffee? Or is there some better or more practical way to get it into your system.

Thanks
Cato

[tuffshot]

Forgot all about the benifits of Green tea, even though I drink it a lot at work just for the antioxidant purposes and to help cut back on coffee.

Cato,

100% green tea is the best thing to look for on the lable such as Lipton and several other brands sold in grocery stores. The amount of milligrams of antioxidants will be on the lable. As far as preperation for hot tea you can even run it thru an auto coffee pot with the bags in the brew basket or in the pot.

They say stay away from caffeine free tea and coffee due to the decafinating process is done chemically and robs the benifits. Some coffee specialty shops sell tea in bulk also.

marc,

A herboligist can help with other treatments with the use of herbs and minerals for treating the blood which is affected by the cancer. The stronger the blood the better it can fight the desease.

[greenghost]

Cato,

What Tuffshot said. Celestial Seasonings makes a reasonable green tea packet (it says Authentic Green Tea). You can buy less processed (and so more antioxidant rich) green teas at most "Healthfood stores" if you've got one in the area. There is nothing special about drinking the tea hot like coffee. I don't mind it that way, but it isn't exactly a flavor sensation. My daughter prefers it mixed with another tea (mint or berry) and a bit of honey. Or you can drink it cold, like iced tea.

Regarding heart health generally. I am no doctor, but I think that there are two other things you can do that are beneficial. First, increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids and decrease your intake of omega-6 fatty acids. Omega 3s are found in leafy veggies like red leaf lettuce, flax seed (you gotta score them) and flax oil, fish (especially cod and wild salmon), walnuts, and game. Omega 6s are found in grains and vegetable oils. Some easy ways to affect the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3s: Use canola oil for cooking, eat seafood a couple of times a week or take a good quality fish oil supplement, mix flax seed oil into your salad dressings, sprinkle chopped flax seeds in anything.

The second thing that is probably worth doing is taking a good vitamin E supplment of about 200-400 IUs daily along with a selenium supplement. (Don't over do the selenium.) Most vitamin E supplements are merely alpha-tocopheral, but vitamin E comes in other forms as well. Recent studies show that supplementing with just alpha tocopheral doesn't help the heart much. If you want the benefits, you need to look for a supplement that says "mixed tocopherals". Not too hard to find. Here in Laramie you can buy one at Wal-Mart.

[Cato]

GG & Tuff,

Thanks for the help. I will pursue the tea. I do have a health food store within a few miles, so I'll start there.

GG, most of the heart stuff you suggested, I am doing. I have been struggling with cholesterol for 10 yrs, fighting the side effects of the statins, and now am off them trying to beat down the numbers with diet, etc. I read all I can find, but welcome any and all suggestions.

I got hold of a book by Dr. Richard Fleming that was hugely beneficial, and discussed at length why many of the things you referred to above are worthwhile. In his opinion, much of the story on heart disease has to do with how your body attempts to deal with inflamation. I adopted a portion of his recommendations, and my numbers dropped almost to the level they were at while I was on the statins.

GG, you mentioned slelnium. I am not taking any. Where can I read about its benefits, and how much should I be supplementing? Dr Fleming recommended it, but I never understood much about what it is supposed to do.

Also, there is something relatively new out there called "policosanol". I see where some supplements are now adding it, proclaiming it will be helpful with cholesterol. If you know anyting about it, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks
Cato

[Passthru]

I just had my fourth cup of green tea in as many days. I gave up sodas and now start my day with the tea instead.

[greenghost]

Cato, Selenium is a mineral. It is an essential component of certain antioxidant compounds produced by your body. Its primary known beneficial affects are as a cancer fighter in conjunction with Vitamin E. (They did a randomized double blind study which showed that a 200mcg supplement of selenium cut colon cancer rates by 50%.) But we also know that E, C and Selenium work in tandem on a host of related factors. In fact, it increasingly appears that the "Syndrom X" factors (heart disease, cancer, insulin resistance, etc.) are all interrelated. So it is unlikely that something which helps alleviate one of the problems won't also help with others.

I don't know if you have looked at Cordain's book The Paleodiet, but I have to say that I think it is the best diet hands down. IMO the medical community is not up to speed on preventative medicine. But it is really becoming clear fast that a low fat diet is not the way to a healthy heart. What you want is a diet that has little negative affect on your insulin sensitivity. As you note, this related to the fact that insulin resistance is associated with inflammatory processes and these are, in turn, correlated with cancer and heart disease. And it isn't fats generally that cause the problems, its transfats, saturated fats (maybe), too many omega-6 fatty acids and high Glycemic Load foods. Both of the latter factors are contributed by cereal grains. If I were in your shoes, I would totally cut out grains in my diet. I doubt that this will wholly alleviate your cholesterol problems, but it can't hurt (so long as you replace the grains with lots and lots of fruits and veggies and not bacon!) and could help considerably. Just my opinion though.

I don't know anything about policosanol. I will say that (appearances to the contrary notwithstanding) I am not a huge fan of dietery supplements generally. If your diet is good, you shouldn't need much by way of supplements and it is ALWAYS best to try to get what you need by way of diet because so many poorly understood phytochemicals (lycopene, catechins, cuminecin, bioflavenoids, etc, etc) come along this way but can't all be added to supplements. And we know that these phytochemicals act synergistically (in tandem) with the more familiar micronutrients.

Anyway, sorry if I am rambling. After all, you probably know most of this stuff.

[greenghost]

Oh, and of course excercise is a crucial factor in increasing insulin sensitivity. After a lot of digging around over the years, I have become convinced that endurance exercise is NOT the way to go. In fact, marathoners and ultramarathoners have fairly high rates of cancer and heart attacks. I personally don't ever run for longer than 30 minutes (a little more than a 5k for me) at a time and try to get my cardio via anaerobic processes like sprints. In fact, we know that a set of 8 20 second sprints (with 10 seconds of recovery; total time 4 minutes) will increase your cariovascular health more than an hour of endurance training at 85% VO-max! Go figure!

Ah well, gotta go do my work-out. Today: 100 of pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, squats--for time.

[Cato]

GG,

Rambling is part of most email responses, so ramble on! ( Was that a Led Zeplin tune?)

I will probably order the book. It may be after tax season before I can sit down and read it. The Fleming book helped me imensely, but I am still on the learning curve. And frankly, it gets confusing sometimes as to what would be appropriate. I am eating lots of fruits and vegs. However, I am still a sucker for meat, staying primarily with fish and chicken (broiled or baked).

My simplistic goal has been to eliminate as much as possible that comes from a can or box, no fast foods of any kind, no deserts, no dairy products (except fat free milk), no cokes or junk food, and emphasis on green leafy vegs as often as possible. That made a huge difference in my numbers. However, I still need to see some improvement.

Thanks for taking the time to give me some feedback. And again, please let me know how your daughter is doing. You probably remember that my child has cystic fibrosis, so we have one more thing in common.

Hang in there.
Mitchell (Cato)

[greenghost]

Cato, Regarding my daughter. Response to chemo is the single biggest prognostic factor with Ewing's Sarcoma. She has been through two chemo rounds (3 weeks apart). Before she starts her third on the 28th we will do some imaging tests to see if the chemo has checked the growth of the tumor. If yes, then there is room for optimism; if no, then the prognosis is pretty dang poor. So I am just sitting on my hands praying for good news next Tuesday.

It sounds like your diet is very good. I wouldn't worry so much about eating meat so long as you aren't eating a lot of fatty red meat. Protein is good stuff for the heart. And be sure you are getting enough omega 3s!

Best luck, Marc

[AFguy]

some green tea's you can get at an asian store will have larger leaves, these are more expensive but often have more flavor and I would assume more flavanoids, antioxidants. White tea from South Africa supposedly has a much higher concentration than green tea.

a non caffinated tea (naturally non caffinated) is Barley tea. japanese call it mugicha and it is full of good stuff 0 cal and tastes great as an ice tea. if you dont have an asian store near you you can just buy barley, boil it , and drink the water.

[brad]

Any idea on how much green tea is recommended per day for the benefits?

I love green tea. Here in the Twin Cities we have many Asian markets with a great variety of teas. You may also want to search online sources for reasonable prices and variety.

In my opinion, green tea just isn't right when it's stuck in a teabag.

Prayers and best wishes for your daughter and family, greenghost.