Neelanjana Singh Senior Nutrition Consultant PSRI, New Delhi: Tea is a known anti-microbial agent and a good source of fluoride. Which is why tea and its potential to prevent dental caries and oral cancer are being investigated. And believe it or not, tea is likely to enter the toothpaste products soon. What seems to be holding back the use of tea in toothpaste are concerns about fluoride toxicity that need to be ruled out.

The anti-cancer and the antioxidant effects of tea make it good for the gastro-intestinal health too.

It has been indicated that tea could change the bacterial flora in the intestinal tract favorably. This explains the observation that tea seems to benefit those suffering from the irritable bowel syndrome. Studies on mice suggest that theanine, one of the many compounds present in tea, has the ability to protect against alcohol-related liver damage.

This of course will greatly enhance the use of tea if fully validated. Some evidence suggests that green tea and to a lesser extent black tea can improve glucose control and enhance insulin activity.

This has great potential for benefiting diabetics.

Tea has also been looked at for its role in the alleviation of obesity. A little over half the studies done to examine tea and its effect on body weight suggest that the compound EGCG in tea could increase metabolic rate and thus induce weight loss.

Although the potential of tea as a therapeutic agent seems exciting, a lot more research is needed before recommendations for actual use for some of the above health benefits can be made.

There are many steps between the confirmation of health benefits of tea and its use for the same. One would be the identification of the right doses in specific clinical conditions.

There is a possibility that some of tea’s beneficial compounds — EGCG — could be marketed as neutraceuticals. This presents the tantalising possibility of letting us drink tea purely for its taste without worrying about the right way of brewing it for health benefits. We would need to simply pop pills for that!

nsingh.rxpress@expressindia.com

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