Tea affects cancer overview
Cancer is one of the major killers in the world today. Modern medicine has been working hard toward the cure but the goal is far from accomplished.In the mean time, we should look for alternative method that can decrease the risk of cancer. Let’s try to find out how can tea affects cancer cells.
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Causes of cancer
Cancer is causes by abnormal growth and development of the cells in the body. The cells have to go through certain stage and require certain criteria to divide and grow normally. Anything goes wrong during a cell’s cycle can cause it to become cancerous.Cancer cells often are not detectable during early development. They also take a long time to actually develop a tumor or cause certain symptoms.
At this time, the cancer probable has spread uncontrollably to other areas.
Cancer cell is infectious to other normal cells in the body. A cancer cell can be originated in one place, but can travel by blood to other places.There are 3 stages in the tumor development: Initiation, promotion, and progression.Initiation is the attack of carcinogen (substances can cause cancer) to the body cells. Promotion is the multiplication of a cancer cell. Progression is the spreading of that cancer cells to other areas of the body.
Carcinogen exists in our foods, drink, air, and living space. Some common examples of carcinogen are alcohols, cigarettes, preservatives, and pesticides. More than 50% of all cancer are caused by carcinogen exist in foods.Cancer can be resulted from one or all of the causes above; thus it’s very difficult to pinpoint exactly the one cause that initiates the cancer.
One thing that’s worth mentioned is that America and many European countries produce a large amount of processed and packaged meat each year.These processed foods contain high level of nitrites, a preservative. Once consumed into the body, these nitrites molecules can be turned into nitrosamines- a carcinogen.
High-fat foods, excessive use of coffee and alcohol, high smoking rates, and increase stress are often accompanied with processed foods in these highly developed countries.Any of the above causes can easily initiate cancerous cells.Several common cancer diseases include prostate cancer, breast cancer, uterus cancer, kidney cancer, stomach cancer, leukemia, and ovary cancer.
How can tea affect cancer cells?
The way that tea affects cancer cells and cancer risk is to provide the body with anti-carcinogen agents such as EGCG. One of advantage of using tea in reducing cancer risk is a high-level of natural EGCG doesn’t affect other normal healthy cells, only cancerous cells. There are many ways that tea affect cancer cells and cancer risk, but we will talk about 3 dominant ways.
The first way tea affects cancer cells is by reducing growth and division of cancer cells. Every cancer cell needs a threshold (minimum) amount of ODC (or ornithine decarboxylase) in order to divide. The anti-carcinogen EGCG is shown to have reduced the production of ODC. Less production of ODC means less chance for cancerous cells to divide, grow, and spread. Thus, the risk of tumor development is significantly reduced.
The second way tea affects cancer cells is by enhancing the communication among the cells in the body. One way that cells often communicate is by induction.This means one cell sends signals to the next cell and tells it what to do. If the communication breaks down between cells, some cells can begin to grow uncontrollably and gradually form a tumor.The polyphenols in tea can help protect the communication system, thus lowering the risk of cancer cells development and tumor formation.
The third way tea affects cancer cells is by lowering the DNA damaging in the cells. The DNA is the genetic material that is responsible for cell division, cell growth, and protein production.If the DNA is broken or damaged, there will be dangerous mutations (or flaws) in the way the cells divide and produce protein. This can contribute to abnormal cell development, thus increasing the risk of cancer diseases.
The antioxidants in tea affect cancer by protecting the cells from radioactive and harmful substances.
Thus this decreases the percentage of dreadful mutations that can cause cancer.
Besides drinking tea
Drinking tea can lower the risk of developing cancer, but you want to lower the risk of this deadly disease as much as possible. There are several more healthy habits to accompany with drinking tea.
Vegetables and fruits contain high level of vitamin, fiber, and lots of natural antioxidants that can protect the cells. Furthermore, fiber has the ability to bind to carcinogen, thus reducing their contact with normal and healthy cells. Alcohols and cigarettes can introduce carcinogen to the cells, causing them to develop abnormally.
Smoked foods like barbecue contains a very high level of carbon monoxide, while salt-cured meat like packaged bolognas have high amount of preservatives nitrites that can turn into nitrosamines, a carcinogen.
Therefore, regular tea drinking, high consumption of vegetable, decrease consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, and low consumption of smoked foods and processed meat can significantly reduce your risk of developing lethal tumor.