Black Tea May Prevent Oral Cancer For diabetics, any trip to the doctor's office, no matter how routine, should be treated as an opportunity to take stock of various health issues that can be compromised by diabetes. You can't throw a tin of Tetley's these days without hitting someone who's talking about the health benefits of green tea. But black tea has health advantages as well. In fact, it may help prevent oral cancer. Oral leukoplakia is a precancerous condition that's most common among tobacco users. White patches may appear on the gums, tongue and inside the cheeks of patients with this condition, and about half of all people with leukoplakia eventually develop oral cancer. In a recent issue of the Journal of Pathology, Toxicology, and Oncology, researchers report on a trial that tested 30 people with oral leukoplakia. For one year, half the group drank three cups of black tea daily. The other group abstained from drinking black tea. Samples of cells from leukoplakia mouth plaques were taken from all subjects at the beginning and end of the study period. When samples were analyzed, precancerous cellular damage was significantly reduced in the black tea subjects compared to those who didn't drink the tea. Oral cancer is responsible for more than 300,000 deaths each year - a number that might be considerably reduced with a few daily cups of Assam, Ceylon or Darjeeling (three common varieties of black tea). Sources:
"Black Tea Prevents Oral Cancer" Maureen Williams, N.D., Healthnotes Newswire, 8/4/05, pccnaturalmarkets.com | 
