Tea drinking and prostate cancer
In a peculiarly British research study, scientists from the University of Glasgow, led by Dr Kashif Shafique, followed the lives of 6,000 men over 4 decades and concluded that those who drank the most tea developed the most prostate cancer.
The group of men who drank more than 7 cups per day developed the most cancer. These people were most usually tea-total, less overweight and of normal cholesterol.
(Ed: Several mass media publications are now saying that the findings run counter to previous thinking about tea, where it was thought to have health benefits. Most articles then mention black and gree tea, and findings that it might lower prostate risk. The truth is that no one that we know of has claimed that British milky tea has health benefits shown in research. In Cancer Watch about 4 years ago we covered German research that showed the benefits of the phytoestrogens in tea were more than offset by the milk. Add to that there was no indication of sugar content (blood glucose levels being a proven link to increased cancer risk) and that these people were tea-total (when a couple of glasses of red wine is known to reduce cancer risk) and you have a piece of research which is a bit of a waste of time. Readers should not confuse the British drink of tea with the natural green tea, drunk without additives, that has repeatedly been shown in research to have both preventative and corrective benefits).
CLICK HERE to read more on the health benefits of Green Tea in cancer.