Green tea, evidence suggests, is more potent in anti-cancer ingredients. All plants contain compounds called polyphenols. These are especially high in tea, coffee, red grapes, kidney beans, raisins, prunes, and red wine. In December 1997 researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine reported that an ingredient in the polyphenols in green tea kills cancer cells while sparing healthy cells. The scientist in charge, Hasan Mukhtar, says the compound kills cancer cells by fragmenting their DNA - typical of apoptosis.
Apoptosis happens all the time in a healthy body.
The cells then decide that instead of being murdered, they will commit suicide. Mukhtar believes study of green tea will lead to fuller understanding of the process of apoptosis. Researchers will try to decipher the molecular mechanism of green tea's protective effects. They will try to find out how to interfere with cancer development by adminstering purified polyphenolic derivatives, said Mukhtar. Green tea appears to be potentially an ideal agent for chemoprevention.