TAIPEI: Drinking green tea may counter the effects of smoking on lung cancer risk, a study in Taiwan found, supporting research showing antioxidants in the beverage help fight illnesses from diabetes to heart disease.

Researchers found that, for both smokers and non-smokers, those who didn't drink green tea had a fivefold greater risk of lung cancer than people who drank at least one cup a day. Smokers who didn't consume any had a 13-fold higher risk of the cancer compared with smokers who drank at least one cup.

The study may hold clues about how some chemicals in green tea could be used to thwart the formation of lung tumors. Previous research has shown tea may also protect against developing malignancies of the breast, prostate, stomach and bladder, study author I-Hsin Lin, from Chung Shan Medical University in Taichung city, said in an interview on Monday.

"Tea, particularly green tea, has received a great deal of attention because tea polyphenols are strong antioxidants, and tea preparations have shown inhibitory activity against tumorigenesis," Lin said. While the research points to drinking green tea as a means of lowering lung cancer risk, the toxic effects of tobacco mean cessation of smoking is the best way to avoid the disease, she said.

Drinking green tea may also reduce the risk of lung cancer in people with a genetic predisposition to developing the malignancy, Lin said.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 1 billion people smoke globally and as many as half of them will die because of the habit. Tobacco use kills 5.4 million people a year, or an average of one person every six seconds, and accounts for one in 10 adult deaths worldwide, according to the Geneva-based health agency.

Cancer of the lung is the leading cause of all cancer deaths in Taiwan, Lin said.

The study surveyed more than 500 people, including 170 with lung cancer, for their smoking habits, green tea consumption and other diet, lifestyle and medical factors.

China Daily/Bloomberg News

(HK Edition 01/14/2010 page2)