Atlanta, Georgia, April 23, 2004 – In a roundtable discussion of the latest research on the health benefits of tea at the 7th Specialty Tea Institute (STI) Annual Symposium, green tea was revealed as Ancient China’s 5th contribution to the world. What was used as medicine by the ancient Chinese has been the subject of much medical research in the last decade. Due to historic events, Western cultures are only recently discovering the joy of green tea after centuries of customs revolving around black tea. The original health benefits deeply rooted in the Chinese culture, however, have always been based on the consumption of green tea.  Read Sarah Ferguson's comments on the discussion at www.wholelattelove.com.

The American public has been bombarded by the confusing lay reports on tea drinking and its potential health benefits. While laboratory research invariably demonstrates an anticancer effect of green tea, clinical data on using tea to control human cancer have shown mixed results. Some of the failures in human cancer chemoprevention were due to the lack of a standardization of the quality of commercially available green teas and the lack of a standardized method for tea preparation. In Japan, the green tea drinkers living near tea plantations have lower cancer rates than the control population, while this health benefit is not observed among the green tea drinkers living in the northern regions where no tea plantations exist.

Panelist, Sin Hang Lee, M.D., a physician specializing in cancer pathology, has introduced the first high potency green tea and a patented technology to brew green tea for maximum preservation of the tea antioxidants. “Based on the most recent discoveries in medical research, tea, when used properly, may have many health benefits, and may be considered the fifth ancient Chinese contribution to the world, in addition to paper making, printing, gun powder and the compass,” said Dr. Lee to the representatives of the tea industry at the Symposium.

Dr. Lee’s efforts have resulted in the first commercially available green tea that is distinguished not only by exceptional aroma and taste, but by its specification for health benefits. Dr. Lee’s TeaForHealth™ is guaranteed to meet the National Cancer Institute (NCI) standard for “typical” green tea used in cancer research and to contain a minimum of 7% (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) by dry weight, as certified by the Center for Advanced Food Technology at Rutgers University (NJ). In addition, Dr. Lee also introduced a patented anaerobic tea steeping technology for maximum preservation of the catechin antioxidants during the brewing process.

Dr. Lee reminded the distinguished audience of the tea industry that tea was initially used as a medicine in China and that the world’s first “paper back” pharmacology written in the Han dynasty (202 B.C. – 220 A.D.) asserted that “…drinking tea boosts mental function, reduces need for sleep, trims extra body weight and improves eyesight...”. These clinical observations have been confirmed by scientific research in the past 10 years.

Dr. Lee pointed out that neither the Europeans nor the Americans have been introduced to real green tea. Historically, the first shipment of “Orange Pekoe” green tea to Western Europe made by the Dutch East India Company in 1606 A.D. had turned into black tea when it reached Holland, having been oxidized and molded en route. As a result, the word “Pekoe” means black tea in the English dictionaries, but has always been a description for high-grade green teas in the Chinese language. The American public was introduced to black tea through the British, and to oolong tea through the Chinese restaurants which are usually operated by the descendants of the post-Ming dynasty peasants from southern China who still shun green tea as a beverage to this date. Both black tea and oolong tea were first purposely produced for the hungry peasants as their preferred beverage to sustain a living under calorie deprivation during the famine years in the post-Ming era. The word “tea” always referred to green tea in China from 2737 B.C. to about 1644 A.D. The low-grade teas, now known as black tea, oolong tea or yellow tea, were salvage products in tea production. The entire Chinese tea culture, including the ancient tea pharmacology, has been based on fresh or dry green tea leaves, which are not oxidized.

Dr. Lee’s TeaForHealth™ is a green tea with exceptional aroma and taste that has been designed and specified for maximum health benefits. The pesticide-free, organic green teas are guaranteed to meet the National Cancer Institute (NCI) standard for “typical” green tea used in cancer research and contain a minimum of 7% (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in dry weight. The OX™ oxygen exclusion steeper incorporates the patented anaerobic tea steeping technology for maximum preservation of the catechin antioxidants during tea-brewing. For health protection with greater convenience, this dietary supplement is now available as a ready-to-drink beverage Dr. Lee’s TeaForHealth inabottle™.