Lifestyle-related diseases, including
cancer and
cardiovascular disease, are also characterized as aging-related diseases, where aging may be the most potent causal factor. In light of this, prevention of lifestyle-related diseases will depend on slowing the aging process and avoiding the clinical appearance of the diseases.
Green tea is now accepted as a
cancer preventive on the basis of numerous in vitro, in vivo and epidemiological studies. In addition,
green tea has also been reported to reduce the risk of
cardiovascular disease. We found an apparent delay of
cancer onset/death and all cause deaths associated with increased consumption of
green tea, specifically in ages before 79 in a prospective cohort study of a Japanese population with 13-year follow-up data. This is consistent with analyses of age-specific
cancer death rate and cumulative survival, indicating a significant slowing of the increase in
cancer death and all cause death with aging. These results indicate that daily consumption of
green tea in sufficient amounts will help to prolong life by avoiding pre-mature death, particularly death caused by
cancer.