Friday TeaDay 8/28/09 Tea and disease?

[Chip]

Greetings one and all. Welcome to another TeaDay. Please do drop in and share what is in your cup today, all day.

Yesterday we discussed tea and the common cold type illnesses. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Do you believe tea can help prevent/suppress serious life threatening diseases? Experience?

I am as always looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with everyone. Bottoms up.

[brad4419]

yes I believe so, or at least I hope so

With all the research going on now with tea it seems mostly positive that tea is healthy and over a long period theoretically should help us fight off some illness or diseases considering all the good stuff we consume daily. I don't have any experiences with this but so far Im healthy so it can't hurnt and is delicious.

Ding gu da fang today.

[Herb_Master]

Which way should I jump?

A balanced diet with a good regime that includes good physical and mental exercise is what one should be looking for.

If the adding of tea to one's diet adds elements that are otherwise missing from the diet then yes.

If the tea is taken as a substitute for something that is harmful then no - it is the exclusion of the other elements that is providing the benefit.

[Chip]

I do believe there is something to it, but hard to filter out all the infomercial noise. I can certainly see how it could have a positive impact upon cardiovascular disease ... but is certainly not a panacea nor an excuse to eat/do as you please as long as you drink tea.

It could also have a positive impact on many other diseases. How much or how little we may never know in our lifetimes.

Certainly replacing a bad habit with a good one such as tea cannot hurt either.

Began the TD with Makinohara shincha from Rishi. Very good value fukamushi. Now that shincha is virtually over, I am more than a bit curious what Rishi will do. As a domestic USA vendor, and evolving, and seemingly committed to Japanese tea ... anyway, SweeTea enjoyed hers while Pyrit, Wulong and Precious were just happy to be inside at the TeaTable on a very rainy/stormy morning.

[CynTEAa]

Maybe - and indeed, I hope so!

Yunnan Gold first thing and now considering a First Flush Sencha for clarity and focus.

Have a happy Friday TeaDay everyone!

[Salsero]

I, of course, continue to be skeptical.

[Trey Winston]

I believe so. But only if you have a decent diet, exercise, and lead an otherwise healthy life. Those are the big factors. Tea is much less significant, but I do think it has a positive effect.

Today, my decent diet includes White Symphony. Yay!

[Zanaspus]

Imho, if you drink tea solely due to health claims, there are supplement pills that would be easier to choke down.

[Ebtoulson]

I voted maybe cuz tea helps prevent scurvy

Gunpowder (western style) this morning.

[bsteele]

errrrrr I'd say negative.

Though I'm sure hot tea can be used to disinfect

[tea fish]

I too voted maybe. I'm actually inclined to think that long-term tea drinking does have health benefits, but like a lot of you am resistant to an instrumental attitude to tea. The real reason I drink tea daily is the pleasure of the experience--always in the present tense--not some future possibility that it'll stave off disease. I love how zen-ish drinking tea can be. There was a thread on "Tea and Philosophy" a while back that unfortunately petered out but broached the zen-ness of tea. Parts of it were pretty interesting. Anyway, happy tea drinking all...

[Intuit]

Probably true. Think of it as an equation that summarizes oxidation and reduction potentials within important cells.

Disease can be roughly simplified as your cells versus oxidation potential. Oxidation potential can be internal (metabolic byproducts, penetrating UV radiation) or external (environmental).

On the plus (protective, reducing) side, you have:
-natural genetic capacity plus adaptive capacity (parents, G-parents) that determines gene expression of antioxidants/reactive O and N scavengers and cellular repair and regeneration.
-dietary supply of antioxidants/scavengers plus vitamins and minerals that serve as co-enzymes or reactive site metals needed for mopping up free radical damage.

On the minus (damaging, oxidizing) side, you have:
-genetic liability from loss of alleles, impaired repair and generation.
- environmental attack from radiation, natural and man-made pollutants, and occasional 'events' (volcanic eruptions, dust storms, climate extremes) that promote damage not only the externally exposed cells (epithelial lining of lungs, GI and urinary tracts, skin) but we now know can be taken up into the vascular system and central nervous system after epithelial damage occurs. That's the underlying theme of cardiovascular and CNS disease.
- chronic and acute stress events that drain cell reductive/free-radical scrubbing and repair capacity.

The reduction-oxidation equation shifts from side to side. You WANT all the help you can get, from good diet, adequate sleep, exercise and stress modulation/coping methods.

Tea *may* help you keep the equation shifted towards the positive side, if your genetics, age, lifestyle and polluted environment haven't made it nearly impossible to overcome excessive oxidative load on cells.

I say 'probably' because tea varies in raw chemical constituent concentration, may be processed such that it looses much of its reductive punch, may be old, or may either be made up with contaminated water that obviates reductive capacity or the leaf itself may be contaminated. There is also a dose issue, wherein you need enough daily and additive effects over time, for it to be an effective agent in the war against oxidative damage.

No-name Wuyi oolong in my cup for starters.

[depravitea]

Like most are saying here today, I think it's one part of a healthy diet. I wish I could say it's a miracle cure-all, but I have to go with what I said yesterday, it's a good tool for preventative maintenance - which is a bonus, because I drink tea for the taste primarily.

Oh, and I still say it promotes literacy.

This morning - experimenting with some Mao Feng green in my tea thermos - IT ROCKS!

[leiche2]

I... don't know. That's all I can say about it. Tea is tasty.

In my cup this morning, generic Yunnan black (quelle surprise).

[amarie]

I'd say maybe on this one. I'm still not 100% sold on the antioxidants preventing cancer thing, but it might help. Also, if you think of how much sugar is in soda and a lot of other beverages, drinking tea instead could certainly lower your risk of becoming diabetic.