Green Tea Protects DNA (Jing)

When you reach for your morning brew, you should consider green tea because new research shows it can help keep your cells healthy and young. Healthy subjects were asked to drink green tea every day for a month, in combined methodology / human supplementation trial and an in vitro study. They experienced a 20% reduction in DNA damage, according finding's published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Research was conducted on 18 healthy subjects who were randomly assigned to drink two cups of green tea daily for four weeks. When their body fluids were analyzed, there was a 20% reduction in DNA damage, even though oxidative stress biomarkers remained the same. It appears that green tea’s compounds acted against free radicals.

This research adds to the ever-growing body of science that shows the potential benefits of green tea: reducing the risk of certain cancers, increasing weight loss, and protecting against Alzheimer’s disease.

Source:
Hanal KC et al. British Journal of Nutrition. 2010 Sep 1:1-8. [Epub ahead of print]