Green tea lowers cancer diseases

NEW YORK - Reuters

Older women who regularly drink green tea have lower risks of cancer.

Older women who regularly drink green tea may have slightly lower risks of colon, stomach and throat cancers than women who make no time for tea, a large study suggests.

Researchers found that of more than 69,000 Chinese women followed for a decade, those who drank green tea at least three times a week were 14 percent less likely to develop a cancer of the digestive system.

That mainly meant lower odds of colon, stomach and esophageal cancers.

No one can say whether green tea, itself, is the reason. Green-tea lovers are often more health-conscious in general.

The study did try to account for that, said senior researcher Dr. Wei Zheng, who heads epidemiology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville.

None of the women smoked or drank alcohol regularly. And the researchers collected information on their diets, exercise habits, weight and medical history.

Even with those things factored in, women’s tea habits remained linked to their cancer risks, Zheng noted.

Still, he said in an email, this type of study cannot prove cause-and-effect.