Drinking Tea. Why not?

Drinking tea has existed for thousands years, and yet this practice still continues today. There are many kinds of tea, but in this blog I would like to talk about three main types: white, green, and black. Different teas have different health benefits. People should drink a specific type of tea according to their own specific needs.

White tea is the least oxidized of all types of tea; this makes it possible to drink in large quantity without getting the jitters, fast heartbeat, and stomach upset that coffee usually causes (Edgar, n.d.). In humans, bone growth starts to decrease with age, so it is a good idea to start drinking white tea to help strengthening the bones. White tea has a high level of calcium and fluoride, so “people who drank white tea regularly shown to have a greater bone density and strength compared to non-drinker” ("Health Benefits of White Tea”, n.d). The fluoride in white tea may help people maintain healthy teeth and gums. For many women, wrinkles come with aging. Drinking white tea also helps slow down the aging process. According to Professor Declan Naughton, many researches have showed that white tea had anti-ageing potential and prevented activities of the enzymes which breakdown elastin and collagen. Elastin supports the body’s natural elasticity which helps skin from sagging while collagen is important for skin, strength and elasticity (“White Tea Could Keep You Healthy and Looking Young”, 2009). 

Green tea is made from un-oxidized leaves and is the least processed type of tea and therefore contains the most antioxidants and beneficial polyphenols. When green tea is brewed without adding any additives, it contains no calories (Nordqvist, 2014). According to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, green tea appears to help control glucose and insulin and keep the gastrointestinal system well running (Ungar, 2013). Even though all teas come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, green tea has the most catechins, and therefore, green tea should be consumed if one needs help with weight loss. Green tea is also effective against eliminating free radicals. “The anti-oxidants in green tea helps protect against damage cause by ultraviolet UVB radiation” (Ungar, 2013). In 2006 study published in Journal of the American Medical association concluded that green tea consumption is associated with reduced morality due to all causes, including cardiovascular. The study followed over 40,000 Japanese participants starting in 1994. The participants who drank at least 5 cups of green tea per day had a significantly lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than those who drank less than one cup of tea per day (Ungar, 2013). 

Besides white tea and green tea, black tea also has its own health benefits. Black tea is the most oxidized tea which makes it have high levels of caffeine to provide a boost of energy, raising a person’s alertness (Edgar, n.d.). Another benefit of black tea is that it can protect lungs from damage caused by inhaling cigarette smoke. A study from England showed that a group of guinea pigs that were exposed to cigarette smoke, the ones that were given black tea were prevented from the side-effects of smoking (Edgar, n.d.). Black tea can also help lower the risk of ovarian cancer. Researchers in Sweden studied tea consumption and ovarian cancer in more than 60 thousand women over a 15 year period. They found out that women had 46 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer if drank two or more cups of tea a day than those who did not drink tea (Dakss, 2005). 

It’s obvious that drinking tea brings a lot of advantages. A cup of tea every morning helps us improve our body's resistance, enhance vitality and prevent diseases. I think I should switch over to tea from coffee from now on. 

Reference

Dakss, Brian. (2005). Tea May Cut Ovarian Cancer Risk. CBSNews. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tea-may-cut-ovarian-cancer-risk/

Edgar, Julie. Types of Teas and Their Health Benefits. WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/tea-types-and-their-health-benefits

Health Benefits Of White Tea. N.d. Retrieved from http://www.whiteteaguide.com/whiteteahealthbenefits.htm

Kingston University. (2009). White Tea Could Keep You Healthy And Looking Young. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 25, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810085312.htm

Nordqvist, Joseph. (2014). What are the health benefits of green tea?. Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/269538

Ungar, Laura. (2013). Tea’s health benefits boost its popularity. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/teas-health-benefits-boost-its-popularity/2013/04/01/be818cfe-6ef5-11e2-aa58-243de81040ba_story.html

Canned Foods Cause Cancer

         

          After interviewing friends and family members, the most common myth that attracted the most interest and brought about uncertainty was whether eating canned goods was a health hazard to consumers, specifically, if it causes cancer.  Health has always been one of the top priorities of everyone’s daily lives.  Therefore, it is important to know the health benefits available as well as the health risks exposed.  An insight on the possible health issues that may be comprised in canned goods could provide valuable information to consumers to allow them to make the proper decision when deciding whether to cook a fresh meal or opt on eating something out of a can that does not require much cooking.

            The canning industry started as far back as around 1814, when a navy Admiral requested to test preserved meat on sick sailors.  However, canned foods were not publicly accepted until around 1830, when canned foods such as tomatoes, peas and sardines were available (Rees, page 10).  During the beginning of the canning industry, botulism was a serious issue that obstructed the business of canning.  Botulism is a disease due to an enterotoxin formed by the growth of botulinum micro-organisms.  Later on, safety factors were used in commercial canning which removed the implication of botulism in commercial canned foods (Fitzgerald, page 697-698).  Although, home canned foods, in contrast to commercially canned foods, were continuing to cause sickness and death, at the time, due to non-standardized techniques in canning.  As time passed, health regulations are formed and further safety factors are drawn to improve canned foods to abide by the regulations to prevent health risk issues.

            There are mixed beliefs and information provided for canned foods and the effects that canned foods have on human health.  Researchers are ongoing to determine the possible health issues available in canned goods.  The current debate regarding food packaging is in the use of an epoxy-based resin containing bisphenol A (BPA) in metal can liners.  The National Toxicology Program released evidence that BPA possibly possesses toxicity that affects the brain and prostate gland in fetuses, infants and children who are exposed to levels that are documented as an average exposure for the general population of the U.S.  The Federal Drug and Administration did not pass a regulation on BPA because they believed that further research is needed (Environmental Health Perspectives).

            With health being one of the top priorities, if there are any signs of possible health risks, one would think that a temporary ban of the substance should be passed until further research is done to consider if the substance is in fact safe or hazardous to humans or any other life forms.  In the present case, BPA has been shown by some researchers to possibly have severe health issues.

            BPA has been linked to a variety of health problems that include prostate cancer (Main, page 1).  Further, animal model experiments have shown that BPA may have a long-term effect on endocrine systems which in turn influence tumor development later in life (Moral, page 102).  These possible risks should definitely raise a red flag and cause action of at least temporarily banning BPA until further researches are available to definitively show that BPA is safe or at least at what specific amounts would be safe.

            After some throughout research, it is still uncertain whether canned foods would in fact cause cancer but there are definitely possible health risks in each canned food product.  Many researchers have been done, specifically on BPA, which have shown mixed results of the effects of BPA on the health of model organisms and humans.   While further researches are continually being performed, caution should be taken when deciding whether to purchase canned foods or preparing a fresh home cooked meal. 

Environmental Health Perspectives, volume 120, number 6, A222-A237, June 2012

Fitzgerald, Gerald A., American Journal of Public Health, Volume 37, 695-701, 1947.

Main, Emily. "We Recommend." Canned Food Carries a Hidden Health Risk. N.p., n.d. Retrieved from http://www.rodalenews.com/plastic-chemicals-and-canned-products

Moral, Raquel, Wang, Richard, Russo Irma H, Coral A Lamartiniere1, Julia Pereira and Jose Russo, “Effect of prenatal exposure to the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A on mammary gland morphology and gene expression signature” Journal of Endocrinology (2008) 196, 101–112.

Rees, J.A.G., “Processing and Packaging Heat Preserved Foods”, edited by J.A.G. Rees, J. Bettison, 9-10, 1991

Five- Second Rule for Dropped Food

     

     Food safety has always been a concern for our daily lives since the beginning of scientific researching and awareness of health risks. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 76 million Americans are sickened, 325,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die each year because of something they ate (Schlosser). Part of the problem is that the food is not clean, therefore, there are many rules and regulations that are applied food provided to the general public nowadays. One of the most popular rules is the “five-second rule” for dropped food. Lots of mothers know this five-second rule, a common superstition, which says that food dropped on the ground will not be contaminated with bacteria if it is picked up within five seconds of being dropped. Yet, many scientists have proved that peoples’ beliefs have a lack of science.

     As to the true origin of the rule no one really knows; many believe the rule has been around as long as the Golden Rule. Virtually unchanged since olden days, the rule has indeed been around for thousands of years. The farther we look back into history the longer duration the Five Second Rule has. For example: Historians have traced the Five Second Rule all the way back to the time of Barbarians and the great Genghis Khan. Back then, the Five Second Rule was known as the Khan Rule. As his army marched across Europe and Asia, he would present his generals with a great banquet after each victory. At the banquet, Khan made sure there was plenty of food and drinks for everyone and informed his generals of his only banquet rule. Any food fallen on the floor could stay on the floor as long as The Great Khan said it could stay on the floor,  it would still be safe to eat. (Ryckeley).

     In May 2007, scientists at Clemson University in South Carolina decided to find out just how much bacteria stick to food as well as to various floor surfaces. By applying a salmonella soup to tile, wood and nylon carpet, the researchers were able to not only see how long the germs lived in those environments, but also how many of the micromenaces transferred to slices of bread and bologna. The researchers discovered that salmonella could survive on all three surfaces for up to four weeks and that they thrived particularly well on the carpet. As experiencing how quickly the germs climbed aboard the bologna and bread, it was found that the longer the contact with the floor, no matter what the surface, the higher the transfer of germs. So, when left on the floor for just five seconds, both foods picked up between 150 and 8,000 bacteria. But if they were left for a full minute, the rate was magnified 10 times. (Franco).

     Even though many scientists have warned people that five second rule is just the myth,  in this high-tech life, the majority of people still believe that the five second rule is truth. They are not only following it, they also tell their kids to apply it as a science rule. This rule is totally fiction. People just want to follow this rule because they try to give an excuse to salvage expensive food, or as an incantation to ward off sickness. Yet, the five-second rule probably should become the zero-second rule. Eating dropped food poses a risk for ingestion of bacteria and subsequent gastrointestinal disease, and the time the food sits on the floor does not change the risk.

Franco, Michael. Does the Five Second Rule Really Work? Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/five-second-rule.htm

Ryckeley, Rick. (2002 September). About the Five-second Rule and Genghis Khan. Retrieved from http://www.thecitizen.com/archive/main/archive-020927/opinion/op-03.html

Scholosser, Eric. (2006 December). Has Politics Contaminated the Food Supply?.The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/11/opinion/11schlosser.html?pagewanted=all