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Green Tea & Fibroid Tumors
Fibroid tumors are benign growths that occur in the
uterus. They rarely turn cancerous, but they often cause pain, heavy
menstrual bleeding, backaches and pressure on the bladder or bowels.
Fibroids, which are the most common kind of benign tumor found in
humans, affect about 40 percent of U.S. women over the age of 40 and are
the reason for about one-third of the hysterectomies performed each
year.
A good animal model to use when testing methods of fibroid
prevention/treatment is the Japanese quail, as the laying hen develops fibroid tumors that are quite similar to those found in humans. In the
past, researchers have found that antioxidant supplementation (e.g. lycopene and
soy isoflavones) have decreased the incidence of fibroids in the Japanese quail.
Can green tea’s EGCg bring about similar results?
For a study published in Nutrition Research in 2008,
108 Japanese quail were divided into two groups and fed either a standard diet
or a standard diet plus EGCg.1 One year
later, the animals were euthanized and their fibroid tumors were analyzed. Those receiving
the diet plus EGCg had significantly fewer tumors than those receiving
the diet only, and any that they did develop were smaller. The
researchers concluded that dietary supplementation with green tea’s EGCG reduces
both size and incidence of fibroid tumors in the Japanese quail. They urged that clinical
trials be conducted to see if it might have the same effect in humans.
1Ozercan
IH, Sahin N, Akdemir F, et al. Chemoprevention of fibroid tumors by
[-]-epigallocatechin-3-gallate in quail. Nutr Res 2008;28(2):92-97.
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Nadine Taylor, M.S., R.D. presents
GreenTeaLibrary.com, the most
comprehensive collection of scientific information describing the
health benefits of green tea.
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