Lung Cancer Symptoms - Green Tea for Smokers - Can it Lower Your Lung Cancer Risk?

We are only just beginning to understand the health benefits of green tea. But, it seems sure that green tea is one of the best things we can do to protect our health, slow down the aging process and prevent disease. One disease of particular interest in terms of green tea's affect is cancer.

Cancer is still one of the leading causes of death in the world. In fact, 300 people die of cancer every single day in the US alone. Yet, research is showing over and over again that the anti-oxidants in green tea may hold the power to prevent, and even treat, many types of cancers.

And, we know that many cancers are entirely preventable, yet continue to be a leading cause of death. Nearly all skin cancer is preventable, simply by wearing sunscreen, and the vast majority of lung cancer patients contract the disease after years of smoking. Smoking is, in fact, the number one risk factor for developing lung cancer.

But, even for smokers, there is evidence that green tea may provide protective benefits from the very cancer for which they're at risk; lung cancer.

A study at the Toxicology Research Center in Korea suggests that drinking green tea may provide protective benefits to the lungs, even to people who smoke. In their study, they tested four groups of people; nonsmokers, smokers, smokers who drank green tea, and smokers who drank coffee. The smokers in the study averaged at least 13 years of smoking.

For the study groups consuming tea and coffee, their intake was 2-3 cups each day for six months. The smokers who drank green tea had a significantly lower incidence of sisterchromatid exchange (SCE), the damage that leads to lung cancer, than the smokers who drank coffee and the smokers who did not consume any special beverage. In fact, the amount of SCE damage in the tea drinkers was comparable with that of the non-smokers, who showed very little sign of SCE.

This led researchers to the conclusion that drinking green tea may help prevent lung cancer, even if you smoke. It also concluded that drinking coffee had neither a negative nor a positive effect on patients' SCE levels.

So, it seems that it's more important than ever to get your daily dose of the anti-oxidants that green tea can provide. If you smoke, of course your best course of action would be to stop smoking. But, either way, it appears you should be drinking green tea!

Jon M. Stout is Chairman of the Golden Moon Tea Company. For more information about tea, green tea and wu long tea click on the linked words.