|
|  |
Tea Women Network
299 hits
| Mar 16, 2008 2:47 pm |
|
All-natural wonder drug decreases Parkinson's risk - black tea (Daily Dose - 3/16/2008) |
Ellen Schultz
 | |
All-natural wonder drug decreases Parkinson's risk
Dear Friend,
For years I've been trying to wake people up to the fact that coffee is more than just a morning pick-me-up. Of course, with the proliferation of Starbucks throughout the country – seemingly on every corner – it seems that Americans hardly need to be convinced to guzzle down gallon after gallon of the stuff. So today, I want to open your eyes to the recent discovery of even more health benefits in another breakfast beverage: black tea.
Ever since a bunch of angry, overtaxed citizens dumped crates of the stuff into Boston Harbor a couple centuries back, tea has been a distant second to coffee in America. But new research just might help tea – specifically black tea – gain some ground on coffee. According to a study published in The American Journal of Epidemiology, drinking ¾ of a cup of black tea 23 times a month may decrease the risk of developing Parkinson's disease by – hang on to your tea cozies – 71 percent.
I'll get the kettle on!
This stunning finding comes from Singapore, where researchers studied over 60,000 Chinese men and women. As you probably know, it's caffeine-free green tea that's currently lauded as the hero beverage of choice because of its high anti-oxidant content. In fact, other studies have even reported that it's green tea that helps to battle Parkinson's. But this new study actually found no Parkinson's-fighting benefits to green tea.
The difference between green tea and black tea is time. Very simply, black tea is older— it's just green tea that's been fermented. The study found nothing to link the higher caffeine content of black tea to these benefits. In fact, they're not exactly sure why black tea has these anti-Parkinson's properties.
"The key difference between black and green tea lies in the types and amounts of flavonoids," says Dr. Ann Walker of England's Tea Advisory Panel, noting that black tea has more complex varieties of flavonoids called "thearubigins and theaflavins."
While the source of the benefit remains unknown, it seems apparent that benefits themselves are indeed real. As for me, I'm not shocked by this latest revelation. I've told you before about the health boost you can get from all kinds of tea. Flavonoids are good for your heart, and the caffeine and antioxidants can ward off cancer.
What's more, these dramatic benefits can actually be measured by blood tests after only three weeks of a black tea drinking regimen!
But whereas I fully agree with the conclusion of the study, I can't say that I support the way that those results came about.
Keep reading…
There's only one thing that gives me pause about this study. While the researchers from Singapore's National Neuroscience Institute claim that they collected their data by face- to-face interviews and structured questionnaires, remember they said the study was of over 60,000 Chinese men and women. That's hardly what researchers that I've known would call a "manageable control group"
As much as I don't want to sully the potentially huge news that this study has brought to light, I must admit that one of my eyebrows shot toward the ceiling when I read about the number of people that were supposedly studied. Tea is to the Chinese what coffee is to Americans – consumed nearly indiscriminately and in vast quantities. How on earth the researchers would be able to separate out over 60,000 black tea drinkers and limit that number of people to one form of tea … well, it just seems sort of impossible to me.
Imagine if you wanted to conduct a similar study with coffee drinkers at Starbucks. Even if you limited your control group to just the people who order drip coffee, how many of those customers know whether they're ordering the Sumatra, the Verona, or the French Roast? Few would make the distinction, I'm afraid.
But I don't want to let the skeptic in me rain on this parade. At the end of the day, even if this study is only half right, we're STILL talking about 35 percent decrease in your risk of getting Parkinson's – and that's nothing to sneeze at.
While it's not likely that black tea (or any tea) will surpass coffee as the morning beverage of choice in the U.S. any time soon – if ever – it's good to know that there's another all-natural wonder drug out there that doesn't come from the end of a hypodermic needle, and that's not churned out and slapped with a monstrous price tag by our "friends" in Big Pharma.
So get the cups and saucers out and prepare to extend a pinky finger so you can drink your tea with some class.
Extending an invitation to the tea party,
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.
Private Reply to Ellen Schultz (new win) |
|
