Much More Than A Soothing Cuppa
One of green tea’s most impressive benefits can be attributed to a very potent group of compounds known as catechins. These naturally-occurring phytochemicals are found in many foods and are some of the “most powerful disease-fighting phytonutrients found in the plant kingdom,” according to Mark Hyman, MD. You’ll find them in teas, beans, berry fruits, dark chocolate, and even some wines.Research backs him up. According to a study published August 2016 in Nutrients entitled “Suppressive Effects of Tea Catechins on Breast Cancer,” there are more than ten catechin compounds in tea. Of these ten, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is not only the most abundant, but has been proven to have the most suppressive effect on breast cancer.
It was noted that the amount of green tea consumption is directly related to a decreased risk of breast cancer. In the aforementioned study, researchers found that women who drink more than 3 cups of green tea a day have a 37% reduction in their risk of developing breast cancer.
And in a separate study published 2020 in Applied Science, researchers found that catechin and catechin-rich foods are not only responsible for inhibiting the proliferation of A549 cancer cells, but are beneficial as an antitumor agent. In this study, it is suggested that catechins are particularly helpful when used in conjunction with other cancer therapies.
Power It Up with THIS Combination
The most prevalent catechin compound in green tea, EGCG is a recognized hero in The Rath Protocol and it’s why I wrote about it in my book, I Used to Have Cancer. Dr. Mattias Rath teamed up with the brilliant Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling to study the effects of not only Vitamin C, but other combined extracts. It turned out that the nutrient combination of Vitamin C, L-lysine, L-proline, and EGCG proved to block not just breast cancer, but several cancer types—melanoma, cervical, ovarian, prostate, testes, lung, kidney, pancreas, colon, bladder, osteosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, and synovial sarcoma—from invading collagen layers.As a 35-Year Cancer Survivor, What Has Worked for Me?
EGCG is part of my daily regimen of nutrients to protect against cancer. It’s worked for more than 35 years! My daily protocol is 1,500 mg of EGCG Green Tea Extract twice daily (with meals).M. Dermeule, M. Brossard, et al., “Matrix metalloproteinase inhibition by green tea catechins,” Biochim Biophys Acta (2000); 1478(1): 51–60.
G. Zhang, Y. Miura, K. Yagasaki, “Induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in cancer cells by in vivo metabolites of teas,” Nutr Cancer (2000); 38(2): 265–273.
N. Ahmad, P. Cheng, H. Mukhtar, “Cell cycle dysregulation by green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate,” Biochem Biophys Res Commun (Aug 28, 2000); 275(2):328-34. doi: 10.1006/bbrc.2000.3297.
Li-Ping Xiang,1,2 Ao Wang,2 Jian-Hui Ye, et al., “Suppressive Effects of Tea Catechins on Breast Cancer,” Nutrients (Aug 2016); 8(8): 458. doi: 10.3390/nu8080458.
H. Sun, M. Yin, D. Hao, Y. Shen, “Anti-Cancer Activity of Catechin against A549 Lung Carcinoma Cells by Induction of Cyclin Kinase Inhibitor p21 and Suppression of Cyclin E1 and P–AKT,” Applied Sciences (2020); 10(6), 2065;