Green Tea and Digestive Health

In the February 2013 issue of the Natural Medicine Journal, author Kaycie Rosen Grigel looks at the Shanghai Women's Health Study involving green tea consumption and digestive system related (including colon, esophageal, gall bladder, pancreatic, rectal, stomach) cancer risk.  Almost 70,000 women between the ages of 40-70 participated in this study.  The participants were divided into different categories based on their tea consumption and the primary tea consumed was green tea (88% of participants drank green tea only).  The regular tea drinkers were found to have a 17% lower risk of developing digestive system cancers than the participants who were not regular tea drinkers.   Participants who drank 2-3 cups per day had a 21% lower risk and the ones who were regular tea drinkers for 20 years or more had a 27% lower risk of developing all digestive system related cancers and a 29% lower risk of developing colon cancer specifically.  The information from this study provides additional great guidance around simple changes we can make in our diet to support our overall health.