Can drinking tea reduce the incidence of gastric cancer?

Tea is one of the natural anti-cancer agents that has received much attention recently.

Recently, there have been reports that the incidence of tumors is very low in green tea producing areas and areas with tea drinking habits. The results of retrospective surveys on green tea around the world are not the same. Some reports believe that it can reduce the risk of gastric cancer, mainly because green tea contains high concentrations of tea polyphenols, which have a protective effect. In vivo and in vitro studies in my country have shown that tea has the effect of blocking the synthesis of nitroso compounds, and there is an obvious dose-response relationship; human trials have confirmed that drinking 1-5g of tea water per day can significantly block the synthesis of nitrite in the body. Green tea contains a variety of nitrosation inhibitors such as vitamin C, vitamin E and tea polyphenols, which can block the excessive synthesis of N-nitrosoproline in high-risk groups.

But there are also contrary reports. Japanese researchers conducted a survey on men and women over 40 years old living in rural areas of Japan, mainly investigating the amount of green tea they drink every day. About 40% of them drink more than 5 cups of green tea a day, and 19% drink less than 1 cup of green tea a day. The researchers conducted an 8-year follow-up study on 26,000 men and women. The results showed that drinking green tea, regardless of the amount, has no special effect on health, and pointed out: "People who like to drink green tea can continue to maintain this habit, but don't expect drinking green tea to reduce the risk of gastric cancer." The World Cancer Research Fund believes that any beverage cannot increase or reduce the risk of gastric cancer.