Attention, ladies: Science says it's time to put the kettle on. A new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who consumed the most flavonoids, a type of antioxidant abundant in tea, were significantly less likely to develop endothelial ovarian cancer—the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women.
Researchers looked at the dietary habits of more than 170,000 women for three decades to reach this conclusion. Their coolest finding: Just a couple of cups of black tea every day was associated with a whopping 31 percent reduction in risk for this deadly cancer.
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So how do these flavonoids work?
"The mechanisms aren't completely understood, but a number of flavonoids are anti-inflammatory and have effects on cell signaling pathways," said Aedin Cassidy, PhD, study author and professor of nutrition at the University of East Anglia's Norwich Medical School. So, among other things, it's possible that they reduce proliferation of cancer and induce apoptosis, or programmed cell death, of cancer cells.
Considering that ovarian cancer is so deadly—the 5-year survival rate is about 44 percent—it seems like a wise choice to tip back a few at tea time (here's how to brew the ultimate cup of tea every time.) . But if Earl Grey and oolong aren't your thing, you can still reap the cancer-fighting benefit of flavonoids. Other top food sources include apples, grapes, blueberries, red wine, dark chocolate, citrus fruits, and onions.
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You can find the original article about reducing ovarian cancer risk at Prevention.com.
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