Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (17719)	4/22/2003 8:23:28 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 89467

Five cups of tea keep the doctor away Tim Radford, science editor Tuesday April 22, 2003 The Guardian American scientists have found a way to tune up the immune system and perhaps see off emerging cancer cells. The recipe: a small cup of tea, five times a day. Jack Bukowksi, an immunologist at the Brigham and Women's hospital, which is linked to the Harvard medical school, discovered the English breakfast route to health when he asked volunteers to take either five cups of black or fermented tea each day, or five cups of coffee. Tea contains, among many other things, alkylamine antigens which are also present in some bacteria, parasites, tumour cells and fungi. He tested the effects of these antigens on a human's first line of defence against infection, the gamma-delta T-cells of the immune system. Cells which had been exposed to the antigens mounted a rousing defence against bacterial infection; cells not previously exposed showed no response. Dr Bukowski then taught 11 volunteers to steep a teabag in freshly boiled water for five minutes. They were allowed to add lemon, sugar or milk., according to taste. Ten others were told to drink Nescafé, "a hot beverage that contains caffeine", he reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He then took blood samples. After two weeks, the tea drinkers' immune systems showed "an enhanced ability to produce disease-fighting chemicals". The same could not be said for coffee drinkers. Although tea - especially green or unfermented tea - has been linked with cancer prevention before, Dr Bukowski was surprised by his findings. He first identified the ingredient that kicked the immune system into action and then combed the literature to find where it occurred in nature. It occurred in fruit, vegetables and tea. The research does not necessarily mean the tea-drinking British are healthier than coffee-drinking Americans. Nor would he prescribe tea as a health supplement. "If someone were sick, I would not tell them to drink tea and expect them to be cured," he said. "I would say there doesn't seem to be any downside to drinking tea. "Our nutritional state in the US is awful and I think tea can be viewed as a vegetable and we need more vegetables. "This is a graphic illustration of what the nutrients within vegetables can do for your health."