August 17, 2006 – So said William Ewart Gladstone, 19th Century British Prime Minister.

Now comes a Trumbull physician who says drinking the right kind of tea in the right amount can do much more, even protect consumers from certain types of cancers.

Dr. Sin Hang Lee, the founder of TeaForHealth^® and a cancer pathologist at Milford Hospital, recently delivered a scientific presentation to professional health care attendees of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) quadrennial World Cancer Congress, titled "Green Tea as Medicine to Fight Cancer."

Dr. Lee said he has been issued the "first qualified green tea health claim by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)." A spokesman for that agency confirmed Dr. Lee's claim, but explained that the "qualified health claim" he's authorized to use on the tea products he sells at his website is just one step in a lengthy process before being given permission to claim flat out that tea cures cancer.

What Dr. Lee is allowed to state on his tea products labels is that "green tea may reduce the risk of cancer of the breast and prostate." And although many scientists and federal food and drug agencies agree, they also say that while "there is credible evidence" supporting such claims. "... the evidence at this time is limited."

Dr. Lee is the first to agree, noting that there are numerous studies under way to determine the specific health benefits of drinking green, or black, tea. "But what is more important," said Dr. Lee in a recent interview, "is that there is a great need for public education on the proper use of tea in the correct amounts that contain the necessary amount of certain antioxidants."

Indeed, according to Lee, drinking tea in huge amounts with the wrong kind of water can be dangerous. "There was a woman who drank huge amounts of ice tea using a water that was high in fluorides which resulted in fluoride poisoning."

Lee says daily consumption of 800 ml of green tea containing 710 mcg/ml EGCG is the minimum lowest effective anticancer dose in a 154-pound person.

According to Lucia Brown, Lee's office manager the his Trumbull-based tea company, "that's about three 9-ounce cups of green tea per day containing a high level of antioxidants." Lee says EGCG "is the key chemical ingredient and the most active tea antioxidant used in the correct proportion to the amount of tea one is drinking."

Brown said Lee's privately held tea company, which sells TeaForHealth products, "uses green tea from organic plantations and imported from China. The tea is tested to be certain it contains the high level of antioxidants we require."

Lee's tea is sold mostly over the Internet at the TeaForHealth website. The tea is brewed and bottled in Pennsylvania, Brown said.

Lee insists that his motive for selling his tea is to provide health benefits for cancer patients, and to help ward off certain types of cancer. He has more than 40 years of experience in cancer diagnosis and analysis of cancer treatment complications in the U.S. Lee is also qualified to practice medicine in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Dr. Suri Pappu, head of the pathology department at Milford Hospital, confirmed Lee's credentials, and spoke highly about his research into the use of tea as a health benefit. Lee said he has been asking the FDA to require labeling on tea products that disclose the amount of antioxidants they contain, as well as other pertinent information that aids the drinking public in selecting teas to drink. "The tea industry is resisting," said Lee.

Cindy Bigelow, co-president of Fairfield-based R. C. Bigelow Inc., makers of Bigelow Tea, said she has no objection to labeling tea products, but points out it might be difficult to accomplish.

"It would have to be a wide range of information, since the variables are so great from one batch of tea to the next," said Bigelow, whose grandmother started the tea company 61 years ago which now employs 350 people.

"There are so many other factors you have to consider, such as which country the tea is processed in, how it's processed and the prevailing weather conditions," said Bigelow. "The wording would be applicable to any tea bags brewed, but not to ready-to-drink teas," she added.

And while Bigelow tea makes no health benefit claims on its products, Cindy Bigelow said there have been numerous studies that indicate tea does have a positive effect in fighting or preventing certain illnesses.

While she doesn't question Dr. Lee's claims about the precise amount and type of antioxidants should be contained in a cup of tea, she noted that Bigelow tea bags contain 125 milligrams of antioxidants, "which is very similar. Our motto is 'The tea should taste good first.' And know your facts; don't just listen to anybody."

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) says that although tea "has long been identified as an antioxidant in the laboratory, study results involving humans have been contradictory. Some epidemiological studies comparing tea drinkers to non-tea drinkers support the claim that drinking tea prevents cancer; others do not. Dietary, environmental, and population differences may account for these inconsistencies." NCI researchers are also investigating the therapeutic use of green tea. One recently completed but unpublished NCI trial studied the anti-tumor effect of green tea among prostate cancer patients. The 42 patients drank 6 grams of green tea, or about 4 cups, daily for four months. However, only one patient experienced a short-lived improvement, and nearly 70 percent of the group experienced unpleasant side effects such as nausea and diarrhea. The study concluded drinking green tea has limited anti-tumor benefit for prostate cancer patients.