Fascinating Facts
TEA CAN FRESHEN YOUR BREATH
A
cup of tea warms the soul — and freshens your breath, and even fights
infections. Two recent laboratory studies add to mounting evidence of
the health benefits of tea. In
the first study, conducted at Pace University, green tea extracts were
mixed with several different kinds of bacteria, including those that
cause strep throat and tooth decay. The researchers found that green
tea was effective at fighting bacteria by inhibiting their growth. "Our
research shows tea extracts can destroy the organism that causes
disease," says lead researcher Milton Schiffenbauer, PhD, a
microbiologist and biology professor at Pace University in New York
City. In
fact, the same study suggests that green tea also helps toothpaste and
mouthwash fight viruses — by eliminating bacteria. Toothpaste or
mouthwash alone demonstrated little effectiveness at fighting viruses.
However, by adding green tea extracts, the bacteria were nearly
eliminated and the toothpaste was then able to fight off the viruses.What's
responsible for the health benefits of tea? Teas contain polyphenols,
which are antioxidants that protect human cells from damage. Flavonids
are a group of polyphenols that occur naturally in tea. It is suspected
that high levels of these polyphenols in the body can fight viruses as
well as cancer, including pancreas, colon, bladder, prostate, and
breast cancer.
In
the "bad breath" study, researchers combined black tea extracts with
three species of bacteria (all linked with bad breath) in petri dishes
for 48 hours. They compared the results with bacteria that sat alone.
In all cases, tea polyphenols inhibited the growth of bacteria by 30%
and reduced the production of compounds that cause bad breath. The
study suggests that rinsing with black tea keeps plaque from forming
and destroys acids that cause tooth decay. "Besides inhibiting the
growth of pathogens in the mouth, black tea and its polyphenols may
benefit human oral health by suppressing the bad-smelling compounds
that these pathogens produce," says lead researcher Christine D. Wu,
PhD, professor of periodontics at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Both
studies detailing health benefits of tea were presented at the annual
American Society for Microbiology General Meeting, Washington, D.C.,
May 18-22, 2003.

~Jeanie Lerche Davis, WebMD Medical News