The following article, written by Dr. Thomas Stuttaford appeared in The Times dated 28th March 1995 :

"A cup of green tea made from jasmine or green gunpowder leaves may be life saving as well as cheering. Recent research from Japan, reported in the British Medical Journal, has analysed the effect of green tea drinking on 1371 men who live in Yoshimi; it found that the portents for reduction in the incidence of coronary heart disease and cardiovascular diseases in general were good. Other blood tests suggest that green tea drinking improves liver function and thereby may provide some protection against cancers of the liver, colon and lungs.

Drinking the semi-fermented green tea - China tea - still seems rather effete; Tony Benn and Dennis Skinner are famed tea drinkers but their comrades at their next branch meeting would be surprised if they asked for something so exotic. It is served without milk or sugar in a dilute form, and is usually constantly topped up with hot water.

In fact the traditional cup of tea, thick with milk and sugar, became part of the British way of life only after 1839; before then the Chinese green tea had held a virtual monopoly. From that date the Treasury, anxious to encourage colonial trade, allowed Indian black tea into the country duty-free, a privilege extended to Ceylon tea in 1879. Although the worst of the tea taxes had been removed by William Pitt in 1874, it was this imperial preference which caused the gradual eclipse of green tea drinking. Since the Second World War, when green tea was unavailable, its drinking has again been gaining popularity.

Green tea devotees have always claimed that it is not only refreshing and a help to the digestion but also has other medicinal properties with a longer-term advantage. Science has now shown that they may be right.

Animal experiments have provided support for the opinion that one of the constituents of green tea leaves, the catechins, have an anti-carcenogenic action in animals, albeit that this has not yet been shown in humans. Rats which are fed green tea leaves have a remarkable low level of plasma cholesterol and serum triglycerides, the two fats which are routinely measured at human medical examinations and which act as important pointers to the likelihood of developing heart disease. In rats it has also been found that the proportion of the cholesterol which is high-density lipoprotein - the so-called good cholesterol - increases. In assessing the chance of developing coronary atheroma, the amount of low density cholesterol - the more pernicious form - is particularly important.

In fact the traditional cup of tea, thick with milk and sugar, became part of the British way of life only after 1839; before then the Chinese green tea had held a virtual monopoly. From that date the Treasury, anxious to encourage colonial trade, allowed Indian black tea into the country duty-free, a privilege extended to Ceylon tea in 1879. Although the worst of the tea taxes had been removed by William Pitt in 1874, it was this imperial preference which caused the gradual eclipse of green tea drinking. Since the Second World War, when green tea was unavailable, its drinking has again been gaining popularity.

Green tea devotees have always claimed that it is not only refreshing and a help to the digestion but also has other medicinal properties with a longer-term advantage. Science has now shown that they may be right.

Animal experiments have provided support for the opinion that one of the constituents of green tea leaves, the catechins, have an anti-carcenogenic action in animals, albeit that this has not yet been shown in humans. Rats which are fed green tea leaves have a remarkable low level of plasma cholesterol and serum triglycerides, the two fats which are routinely measured at human medical examinations and which act as important pointers to the likelihood of developing heart disease. In rats it has also been found that the proportion of the cholesterol which is high-density lipoprotein - the so-called good cholesterol - increases. In assessing the chance of developing coronary atheroma, the amount of low density cholesterol - the more pernicious form - is particularly important.

The Japanese study suggests that Yoshimi men respond every bit as well to green tea as the laboratory rats. Increased consumption of green tea was followed by decreased levels of serum cholesterol with an increased percentage of high-density lipoprotein and a reduction in the low-density lipoprotein.

The blood tests also suggest that green tea could be as beneficial to human as to rat livers, and might therefore also be protective against some forms of cancer, especially those which are associated with high levels of body iron.

Further work is needed to confirm these findings, but they look encouraging. Sam Twining, who is in the ninth generation of his family to work as a tea merchant, needs no encouragement. He says that he has always found green tea wonderfully refreshing and that the trick to enjoying it is to drink it very weak."

This is something amazing..!!! I'll be waiting for further research reviews and updates on this topics.. Lets see how the contents are confirmed or objected...