Researchers Promote Health Benefits of Tea at Symposium

WASHINGTON--Researchers and scientists met in Washington Sept. 23 at the Third International Scientific Symposium on Tea & Human Health to present new research about the potential health benefits of tea. Among the studies presented were ones linking tea consumption to reduced LDL cholesterol and decreased oxidative stress.

The symposium was organized by the Tea Council of the U.S.A. and sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the American College of Nutrition, the American Health Foundation, the American Society for Nutritional Sciences, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Linus Pauling Institute. "As investigators continue to study the multiple effects that tea has on human health, more research supports tea's potential in helping to reduce the incidence of major diseases," said the meeting's co-chair, Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., chief of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. "The scientific community is making tremendous strides in discovering the potential for flavonoids in black and green tea and other plant foods to promote health and reduce the risk of certain chronic diseases."

The studies explored a range of health conditions. For example, tea consumption may decrease LDL (low-density lipoprotein or "bad") cholesterol by 10 percent when combined with a diet moderately low in fat and cholesterol, according to results from a study conducted at the USDA Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Md. Preliminary findings of an intervention study suggest that smokers who drink tea may have lower levels of oxidative DNA damage. "Smokers' bodies sustain a high level of oxidative damage and are at risk for certain cancers," said Iman Hakim, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the Arizona Cancer Center. One specific cancer study, conducted in Russia, found that women who consumed high levels of tea (more than 160 g/month of dry tea) had a 60-percent reduction in the risk of rectal cancer compared to the low intake group (less than 80 g/month of dry tea).

"The research presented at this year's symposium further extends the scientific evidence that tea may have a favorable effect on the cardiovascular system and may positively impact health in many other ways, including reducing the risk for some cancers," Blumberg said. Further research is planned to determine the mechanism by which tea flavonoids function in the body and the implications they have on human health.