Is tea beneficial for cancer prevention?

Tea - Questions and Answers ABOUT FOODS AND CANCER PREVENTION AND SURVIVAL

QUESTION: Is tea beneficial for cancer prevention?

ANSWER: Perhaps. A recent study followed 69,000 Chinese women ages
forty to seventy and found that the more green tea consumed, the lower
the risk of developing colorectal cancer.33 The same effect has not been
found for oral cancer, gastric cancer, and perhaps for cancer in general.

However, it appears that there is a lower mortality rate among consumers
of regular green tea. Some have suggested that the health benefits
of green tea stem from the antioxidant properties of polyphenolic compounds,
or catechins, which are especially high in green tea due to its
unique preparation. Catechins can be found in many different types of
teas, not just green tea; however, the concentrations are inconsistent and
variable.

Catechins make up 30 percent of the weight of the dried green tea
leaves. It is known that antioxidant levels increase in the blood after green
tea consumption, but the implications of this for health are unclear. More
research is needed to understand green tea and its antioxidant activity in
the human body. However, some clinical trials investigating green tea consumption
by cancer patients found potential benefits that may prove
promising.34,35