Drinking of green tea has risen sharply in recent years given the plethora of information touting its health benefits. New research, however, suggests white tea may possess an even greater health benefit when compared to its green counterpart. Although green, white and black teas are all harvested from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, the method of processing is what differentiates the teas. White tea is the least processed, and is named as such because of the silvery buds from the plant used to make the tea. Consult your doctor before using tea as a remedy or preventive.
Tea and Cancer
Teas of all kinds exert multiple health benefits. Researchers identified certain polyphenols, or compounds thought to be protective against cancer, present in green and black teas in carcinogenesis in 1998. The polyphenols known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and theaflavin-3,3'-digallate (TF-3), found in green and black teas, respectively, were found to suppress a certain cellular receptor necessary for proliferation of carcinoma cells. This inhibition may be one direct mechanism through which tea, and the polyphenols in it, can curb carcinogenesis.
White Tea and Polyphenols
The idea that white tea extract may exert a greater health benefit than either green or black tea has arisen because of the way it is processed. Scientists at Linus Pauling Institute in Corvallis, Oregon hypothesized that the minimal processing of white tea leaves it with more polyphenols. "Many of the more potent tea polyphenols become oxidized or destroyed as green tea is further processed into oolong and black teas," said Roderick Dashwood, a biochemist at the institute.
More protective?
In comparison to green tea, researchers at the Linus Pauling Institute have found that white tea may indeed be more protective against cancer. In the experiment, several varieties of white tea were brewed and tested to further determine polyphenol concentrations and the ability to inhibit carcinogenesis. They found that white tea had higher polyphenol concentrations, although no quantitative estimate was reported, and that all white tea varieties inhibited mutations better than green tea, some to a five-fold improvement.
White Tea and Lung Cancer
Researchers reported in 2010 in Cancer Prevention Research a study that looked at non-small lung cancer cells and found that white tea extract increased PPAR-γ activation by way of certain signaling constituents. PPAR-γ is part of the PPAR family of nuclear receptors. Of its many roles, the PPAR family is critical in inducing apoptosis, or cell death. "As such, restoring apoptosis might represent an important anti-carcinogenic mechanism mediated by WTE," said Jenny T. Mao from the New Mexico VA Health Care System, lead author on the study. The precise component of white tea that induces this PPAR activation is unknown.
References
- "Cancer Prevention Research" White Tea Extract Induces Apoptosis in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells: the Role of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-γ and 15-Lipoxygenases. Mao, JT; 2010
- "Carcinogenesis." Suppression of extracellular signals and cell proliferation by the black tea polyphenol, theaflavin-3,3′-digallate. Liang, YC; 1998
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