Green tea is under a microscope by scientists seeking to determine any possible health benefits. Many of the investigations have looked at the disease-prevention properties of green tea polyphenols, its antioxidant compounds.

In a study published in the March 1 Clinical Cancer Research, UAB researcher Santosh K. Katiyar, Ph.D., reported, "We discovered in test tube and in mouse studies that tea polyphenols have the ability to inhibit the growth of breast tumor cells and slow down their metastasis to other organs."

Treatment of highly metastatic breast tumor cells with green tea polyphenols showed several indications that it can cause tumor cell death. Feeding mice green tea equivalent to human consumption inhibited the spread of cancer to the lungs and increased the animals' survival.

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