How green tea improves bone health

Green tea is now used to help prevent bone loss, for healthier gums and teeth, to decrease mortality, and to help rid the body of certain superbugs. But how much do you need? And is green tea dose-dependent? These are questions consumers are asking.

Researchers noted that green tea contains a group of chemicals that can stimulate bone formation and help slow its breakdown. According the the September 18, 2009 ScienceDaily article, "New Evidence That Green Tea May Help Improve Bone Health," Hong Kong researchers report new new evidence that green tea — one of the most popular beverages consumed worldwide and now available as a dietary supplement — may help improve bone health.

Green tea may help to prevent and/or treat bone loss (osteoporosis) and other bone diseases that affect million worldwide, according to the researchers. In the new study, Ko et al. Effects of Tea Catechins, Epigallocatechin, Gallocatechin, and Gallocatechin Gallate, on Bone Metabolism. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2009; 57 (16): 7293 DOI: 10.1021/jf901545u, the researchers, Ping Chung Leung and colleagues note that many scientific studies have linked tea to beneficial effects in preventing cancer, heart disease, and other conditions.

Recent studies in humans and cell cultures suggest that tea may also benefit bone health. But only recently have a few scientific studies explored which chemicals in tea that could be responsible for this helping to prevent bone loss.

Here's how the researchers studied green tea. First, three catechins (major components) found naturally in green tea--epigallocatechin (EGC), gallocatechin (GC), and gallocatechin gallate (GCG) were exposed to a group of cultured bone-forming cells (osteoblasts) for several days.

Scientists found that one catechin in particular, "EGC, boosted the activity of a key enzyme that promotes bone growth by up to 79 percent. EGC also significantly boosted levels of bone mineralization in the cells, which strengthens bones." The scientists also showed that "high concentrations of ECG blocked the activity of a type of cell (osteoclast) that breaks down or weakens bones." Scientists also report that "the green tea components did not cause any toxic effects to the bone cells."

What about green tea's health benefits that are still being researched for the tea's effects on everything from cancer to bone loss prevention, weight control, anti-inflammatory effects, and lessening of stress and even hypertension?

Can green tea also help cancer patients? See the articles, "Green tea prevents cancer," "Tea and Cancer Prevention - National Cancer Institute," and "Green tea appears to prevent cancer in men." Also see "Study Finds How Green Tea May Prevent Cancer," "Green Tea Prevents Prostate Cancer," "NEWS - How Green Tea Prevents Cancer," and "No Firm Evidence Green Tea Helps Prevent Cancer." You can put a key word in your search engine "green tea," and "health benefits." Yet green tea does seem to improve bone health, according to this latest study. It's the catechins in the tea that are being researched.

There are more people that make their living from the cancer industry, including the larger pharmaceutical companies making drugs to treat cancer, than there are patients that suffer from cancer, according to some media reports. The opposite side of the debate says drugs don't give people stronger immunity. Food does. World War One mustard gas technology derivatives are still being used to treat cancer in current times.

Food misinformation and lack of disclosure are the two hottest nutrition controvsery debates. The third is on how to prevent childhood type 2 diabetes. But in the midst of all the informating coming in daily, one type of scientific study results stands out -- the increasing use of green tea in the USA and in countries that never before heard much news about green tea being studied to help prevent bone loss.

What does the average person do when a new study comes out saying that a food has specific health benefits, but then soon after, another study is released noting that the same food has negative health consequences? This type of debate has opened the field of nutrition to debate.

Nutrition debates include asking questions such as what health issues surround studies of soy products, homogenized milk, and margarine? Why are the ingredients in the nutritional supplement bottle different from what the label says? Why do media report so often that we're losing the war on cancer and degenerative diseases?

How does the average consumer with no science training make informed decisions about what foods are healthy for each person or for all individuals? Would the average consumer benefit by a costly test to determine whether one’s genetic signature is helped or harmed by ingestion of a specific food or medicine? Are those tests accurate? Such topics are ripe for debate.

The hottest controversies in nutrition appear daily in various popular media—newspapers, general consumer magazines, and the tabloid press. However, three equally important controversies in nutrition actually are science versus nature, childhood obesity, and the ever-increasing type 2 diabetes epidemic in children and adults. Consumers want to know whether what’s on the label is the same as what’s in the food or nutritional supplement.

According to the International Food Information Council (IFIC) nutrition/food safety staff, while there are nutrition controversies almost too numerous to mention, a couple stand out – food ‘myths’ (or misinformation) concerning the safety/health benefits of consuming fish and seafood, especially canned tuna; and continuing misinformation about the safety of low-calorie sweeteners, such as Aspartame. For further information, see the IFIC’s site.

Resources:

American Chemical Society (2009, September 18). New Evidence That Green Tea May Help Improve Bone Health. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 20, 2009.

Journal reference:

Ko et al. Effects of Tea Catechins, Epigallocatechin, Gallocatechin, and Gallocatechin Gallate, on Bone Metabolism. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2009; 57 (16): 7293 DOI: 10.1021/jf901545u.

Drinking Tea May Offer Health Benefits, But Evidence Still Limited

Consumption Of Green Tea Associated With Reduced Mortality In Japanese Adults

Drink Green Tea For Healthy Teeth And Gums

Health benefits of tea

Herbal tea

Green tea

White tea

You might also enjoy these:

• The family that eats together weets together: neurotechnology and food
• Does an alkaline diet with added blueberries increase your bone density?
• How biorhythms and food balance your inner clocks
• Cranberry juice fights tooth decay and gum disease: dealing with the disconnect between scientists
• Ethnic human and pet food marketing reports generate thousands of dollars each
• How some doctors might unknowingly create prescription drug addicts and overdosers
• Scientists study risks of contracting fatal brain diseases from eating farmed fish fed rendered cows
• Favorite childhood Greek, Turkish, and Armenian delicatessen shared one another's music
• Citicoline/Cognizin information & alphabetized links to Sacramento nutrition examiner's articles
• How pomegranate juice & GliSOD® reverse carotid atherosclerosis better than any commercial drug
• Can the fatty organic acid, butyrate and high fiber diet shrink colon polyps & lower cancer risk?
• 25 foods, spices, or oils that help to cleanse your skin of blackheads
• Health Guide: how consumers can play a role in quality control of nutritional supplements
• How to bake healthier dog biscuits to help clean your dog's teeth
• Raw vegan dinner for a hot summer day you can prepare in 10 minutes
• How to find training & begin nutrition careers in dynamic phytotherapy or dietary supplement science
• How to find alternative medical and nutritional online resources for menopause and beyond
• Natural alternatives versus standard medications for vertigo, Meniere’s symptoms, and migraines
• How should the Food Pyramid be changed when its updated next year?
• Annual USA sales of nutritional supplements top $23 billion, but where's the quality control?
• How to tell from specific food cravings what your body really needs
• Can magnesium and riboflavin (vitamin B2) stop those monthly migraines?
• Cooking with avocados
• Heal simple diarrhea with raw, shredded coconut for humans and dogs and coconut oil for mouth ulcers
• What are the health benefits of fermented soy foods?
• Genetic iceberg linked to weight, food, behavior, personality, physical performance and core biology
• How to mix essential oils for specific health applications
• How to blend spicy essential oils for men's gifts, including Father's Day
• Where to find out whether there's lead in your magnesium supplement
• Does the acrylamide in French fries, potato and tortilla chips cause cancer?
• Do medicinal Indian herbs for male genital problems sold online work well?
• How to use cream of tartar to clean mineral stains from kitchen and bathroom fixtures or porcelain
• Where to find information on cooking with Indian spices & the benefits of raw whole buckwheat groats

• How food makers capture our brains with factory farms, a documentary