Tea Squelches Squamous Cell

tidbits that tantalize

I Have To Choose?

It's a difficult decision. Tea or chocolate?

Tea receives rave reviews for its ability to calm nerves, lower cholesterol, cleanse the blood and soothe the spirit. Chocolate's fame grows daily, with dark chocolate consumption up an astonishing 49% from 2003 to 2006. So, if you want to be responsible, treat your body kindly and enjoy superior health...

Hmm...

There's simply not enough time or space to detail all the latest discoveries relating to tea and chocolate. Virtually everyday a new study announces additional health benefits. So, you have to pick and choose.

Today, we'll do tea.

In a new study conducted at Dartmouth Medical School tea is shown to protect against skin cancer. Regular tea drinkers, even those drinking just a single cup per day, are 20-30% less likely to develop skin cancer than non-tea drinkers. The protective benefits increase proportionately for long term tea drinkers and for those drinking two or more cups each day.

The study assessed the benefit in protecting against the two most common forms of skin cancer, squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma. Skin cancer is often the result of exposure to the sun's ultraviolet radiation and, with a fun-in-the-sun culture running at full steam, Americans face significant risk. Researchers postulate that tea's antioxidants protect the skin against the harmful effects of sun exposure.

"EGCG." Go ahead - say it out loud. "EGCG!" Ah... It appears to be the antioxidant in tea most effective in fighting skin cancer.

So, there it is. Chocolate will be saved for another day. What's that? You say you already ate all the chocolate? Hmm...

To read more about the study, see this from Reuters. To read more about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of skin cancer, see this from the Skin Cancer Foundation.