Green tea is tea that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea is popular in China and Japan, and recently has become more popular in the West, which traditionally drank only black tea.
A number of health claims have been made for green tea, claiming that its polyphenol content has antioxidant properties that can help prevent cancer.
According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, in laboratory studies using animals, catechins scavenged oxidants before cell damage occurred, reduced the number and size of tumors, and inhibited the growth of cancer cells. However, human studies have proven more contradictory, perhaps due to such factors as variances in diet, environments, and populations.
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