When people first hear of Okinawa tea, they immediately think that this is a special type of tea. The reason that people pay special attention to this tea is because of large % of Okinawa people live past 100. So what’s behind the longevity of these people? Is it the tea or the habit of drinking tea?
The lifestyle of Okinawa people…
Before trying to find out the fact behind the Okinawa tea, it’s a good idea to see how these people live. From a study from the University of The Air Okinawa Study Center in Japan, researchers want to find out how the lifestyle contributes to the highest life expectancy of the people living in the Ryukyu island of Japan, commonly known as the Okinawa people.
The study found out that the food culture of the Okinawa is the mixture between the Japanese and Chinese food cultures. Several main foods of Okinawa include sweet potatoes, sea weed, fish, green tea, kohencha tea, and tofu. Regular consumption of these healthy foods combines with active lifestyles explains the highest life expectancy of the Okinawa people.
A research on tea consumption and lower rate of lung cancer…
A study on the tea consumption and the lower rate of lung cancer was done by the Department of Preventive Medicine, Nagoya University School of Medicine. The study was conducted for 3 years, from 1988 to 1991. 999 cases were studied.
The study found out 2 important and very interesting things. The first is that regular consumption of tea can significantly reduce the risk of developing cancer.
The higher intake of tea, the lower is the risk. According to the study, people who drink 1-4 cups/ day has the odd ratios of developing lung cancer is 0.77. People who drink 10 cups or more have odd ratios of 0.38. Thus more tea can lower the risk of lung cancer by almost 50%. This pattern is similar for both male and female test subjects.
The second thing that researchers found out is that drinking tea actually lowers the risk of abnormal development of squamous cell carcinoma. They conclude this is one of the mechanisms in which tea suppress the development of lung cancer.
So from this study of the Okinawa, researchers concluded that regular tea consumption can reduce the risk of lung cancer.
The Okinawa tea or the habit?
So this is a million dollar question. After you have read the information above, you probably know the answer. It’s the habit of drinking tea. Okinawa tea is just light green tea (green tea that’s partially oxidized). To be blunt, Okinawa tea is green tea grown in Ryukyu Island that Okinawa people drink more than water.
Okinawa people tend to live on natural products. As said above, they mainly consume plants, fish, and tea. They don’t have processed foods and meat that contain high level of nitrites like we do. For your information, the enzymes in the livers often convert nitrites molecules into carcinogen that can attack the cells in the lungs and other organs such as stomach, rectum, colon, prostate, and breasts.
So sum up, Okinawa people are not exposed to many carcinogen that exists in the foods and in air of highly-developing countries like America. Because of high intake of green tea, Okinawa people also consume high level of anti-carcinogens like polyphenol cathechins to protect their body. There’s no magic, just a healthy habit and a clean living environment.
Armed with the information above, you now are better prepared for many ridiculous claims about the magic of Okinawa tea. Keep in mind; it’s just green tea but is drunk regularly.
References: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez. Tea consumption and lung cancer risk: a case-control study in Okinawa, Japan.Jpn J Cancer Res. 1995 Nov;86(11):1027-34. Accessed: July 31, 2007
