Actress Cynthia Nixon speaks up about rosacea diagnosis

When you are a famous actress who appears on TV, Broadway and the silver screen, having a fresh face is important.

That’s why Cynthia Nixon, star of Sex and the City and its two sequel blockbuster movies, was surprised when acne-like spots began appearing on her face in her early 40s.

She chalked it up to adult acne, but when she visited a dermatologist about a suspicious mole, she learned she had rosacea, a chronic vascular condition caused by inflammation.

“I assumed it was acne; I used to have it,” said Nixon, who recently starred in the Broadway play Wit, and can be seen on Showtime’s The Big C. “I was using facials and harsh astringents, and that was harming my skin even more.”

Nixon, 46, who has three kids and is a breast cancer survivor, found stress was a big trigger for rosacea – more specifically when she was stressing out about her skin. Other triggers for Nixon: wine and drastic changes in temperature, like taking a hot bath.

“Once I went to the doctor and got a little medicine and a little advice, I was on the right path,” Nixon said. “I was struggling for years. I could have saved myself a decade of scrubbing."

Nixon has teamed up with the National Rosacea Society (NRS) and Galderma Laboratories to raise awareness about the skin condition. The public service campaign can be found at rosaceafacts.com, along with a quiz to determine if you have it, and suggestions for dermatologists who can help treat it.
According to the NRS, rosacea affects more than 16 million Americans – and 78 percent of Americans don’t know they have it – or how to recognize it.

“It’s important to spread awareness because in addition to the physical symptoms, rosacea can cause anxiety, self-consciousness and embarrassment among sufferers,” said Sam Huff, executive director of NRS, in a news release.

Other rosacea symptoms include facial redness, eye irritation, thickened skin and permanent visible blood vessels, and common triggers include sun exposure, exercise and spicy foods.

Experts aren’t exactly sure why some people get rosacea, but inflammatory response and facial vessels may play an important role, according to the NRS. Rosacea typically occurs between the ages of 30 and 50, and while there is no cure, topical medications, laser treatments and systemic therapy can keep the condition under control.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/04/18/actress-cynthia-nixon-speaks-up-about-rosacea-diagnosis/#ixzz1svS5cV4Q

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The power of tea

You may have heard about the powers of tea. It’s been credited as helpful for heart heath, fighting cancer risk, reducing stress and even good for weight loss. While tea certainly is not a cure-all, studies have shown numerous ways in which the ingredients in certain teas can be beneficial to your health.

However, with grocery stores and health marts practically overflowing with so many types of tea: green, chai, and teas with downright hard to pronounce names, selecting the right tea might seem overwhelming. To help you choose the tea that best suits your needs, it is useful to know a little of the science behind tea.

Scientists recognize tea as being black, green, white or oolong teas – all of which come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. These are true teas, and you’ll know you are getting the real thing when you see “tea” listed as an ingredient on a product’s nutrition label. You may be surprised to learn that herbal teas are not tea at all, but rather infusions from plants that have a much different nutritional profile. Herbal and flavored teas taste and smell wonderful, but there is little evidence that they offer health benefits derived from real tea.

A study done by UCLA, found that drinking three cups (or more) of either green or black tea a day can reduce your risk of stroke by 21 percent.  The health benefits associated with tea come from its high levels of antioxidants such as polyphenols, flavonoids and catechins, which fight free radicals in the body and prevent healthy cells from being harmed. Other studies have found that drinking a couple cups of tea a day may also help lower cholesterol and protect against certain cancers.
So what is the difference between black, green, white and oolong tea?

Black tea

Black tea is the most common type of tea in the US and accounts for 75 percent of the world’s tea consumption.  Like all tea, it comes from the Camellia sinensis plant. The leaves wither, get rolled up and then enter a lengthy fermentation period. This process gives black tea its distinctive smell and strong flavor, and it maximizes interaction between the antioxidant catechins and polyphenol oxidase. Research has found that catechins help reduce cholesterol, decrease blood pressure and prevent the risk of stroke from occurring.

Green tea

Green tea leaves go through a very different process than black tea. This type of tea gets picked, dried, and heat-treated, so that fermentation does not occur.  Green tea contains epigallocathechin gallate (ECGC), which may help to boost metabolism by speeding up the brain and nervous system. The caffeine in green tea along with EGCG has been shown to increase fat oxidation by 12 percent, which is equivalent to burning an extra 80 calories a day.

Oolong tea

Oolong is extremely high in polyphenols, which activates the enzyme responsible for breaking down triglycerides and helps fight the battle of the bulge. Oolong tea is made by bruising the leaves, allowing the release of some of the polyphenol oxidase present in the leaves.  This type of tea is then heated and dried before it goes to market.

White tea

White tea comes from the buds and young leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant; it is the least processed of teas and it has the highest antioxidant levels. White tea also contains flavonoids, a class of antioxidants that inhibit the growth of cancer cells and prevent the development of new ones from forming.

Tip: To preserve tea’s nutritional value it’s important to store it properly. Air and moisture will degrade loose tea leaves and tea bags, so be sure to keep these in airtight tins at room temperature.
Tanya Zuckerbrot MS, RD, is a nationally known registered dietitian based in New York and the creator of a proprietary high-fiber nutrition program for weight loss, wellness and for treating various medical conditions. Tanya authored the bestselling weight loss book The F-Factor Diet, and she is the first dietitian with a national line of high-fiber foods, which are sold under the F-Factor name. Become a fan of Tanya on Facebook, follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn, and visit her website Ffactor.com.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/04/19/power-tea/#ixzz1sk6eNOSC

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Luxury tea trend threatens traditional tea culture

ZHENGZHOU - For centuries, tea has been considered one of the seven daily necessities of ordinary Chinese life, alongside rice, cooking oil, and cheap condiments like vinegar and soy sauce.

Nowadays, however, some tea is no longer a humble necessity, but an astronomically prized luxury good few can afford.

During promotion of this year's first batch of green tea, which usually hits the market in April, a Chinese company rolled out its top tea priced at 26,800 yuan ($4,253) per 100 grams.

The tea, named "Daqi," or "treasure" in Chinese, is a type of Xinyang Maojian, a renowned subcategory of green tea produced in Henan province. The tea comes in a cloisonne container with a jade lid and a sandalwood base.

While ordinary Xinyang Maojian sells at several hundred yuan per kilo, a three-gram cup of Daqi can cost 804 yuan, which, according to its producer, reflects the value of its rarity and "cultural flavor."
"Only a few kilos of Daqi tea are produced every year -- the tea only grows on a tiny patch of land, and our master-level selection and processing techniques have added to its value," said Huang Yixing, vice general manager of the tea's producer Henan Auspicious Cloud Tea Co Ltd.

Huang said the high-profile promotion could increase the fame of Xinyang Maojian, which is not as well-known as China's other famous teas.

"Compared with Anji White Tea, Pu'er, and Longjing, which have all fetched high prices, Xinyang Maojian has lagged behind. We hope our efforts can make consumers realize the tea's true value," Huang said.

China's tea market, which is now the largest in the world, has churned out a large number of luxury teas in recent months. In March, a high-end Longjing tea outvalued gold with an auction price of 180,000 yuan per 500 grams in east China's Zhejiang province.

In another eye-popping story, a Sichuan businessman introduced a new type of tea fertilized with panda dung. He is charging 20,000 yuan for 50 grams of the exotic tea, provoking public debate on his sensational bid to produce the world's highest priced tea.

Some entrepreneurs say they want to push the ancient brew into China's luxury market to compete with chronometers and red wines in appealing to the country's rising parvenu class.

"A watch can easily fetch 1 million yuan with its fine craftsmanship, and we want to show that tea also has this, as well as a profound cultural background," Huang said.

According to Wang Yong, head of the Henan Tea Association, the profit margin for luxury tea is unduly high, as its production cost is at most 3,000 yuan per 500 grams.

To make tea appear luxurious, companies tend to overpackage and overprice, contributing to a 10-percent rise in this spring's tea price in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, over the last year, Wang said.

The retail price surge, however, does not please Chinese tea farmers. Many have complained about a drop in purchase price due to a surplus after this year's bumper harvest as well as the exploitation of tea traders.

The bubble in the tea market has also left a bad taste among experts and the general public, many of whom identify the luxury tea trend with money worship, obsequiousness and corruption.

Zhang Jinbo, a professor at the Henan University of Economics and Law, said the competition among tea producers to set high prices reflects the broader social trend to measure things by price rather than by their inherent value.

The luxury trend in tea is also dangerous, because it might fuel a bubble and push up the price of consumer teas, Zhang said.

Although many companies are tapping into tea's cultural elements to command a higher price, Wang said such practices will actually threaten Chinese tea culture.

"In China, the main tea consumers are still middle- and lower-income earners, and the millennium-old culture of tea drinking should not become materialistic," Wang said.

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The truth about green tea

Antioxidants May Not Help Alzheimer's Patients

By Steven Reinberg

MONDAY, March 19 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have suggested that antioxidants might help thwart Alzheimer's disease, but a new study finds that a "cocktail" of vitamins E, vitamin C and alpha-lipoic acid has no effect on certain indicators of the brain disorder.

The supplements may even have hastened mental decline, the researchers said.

"The benefit on oxidative stress in the brain was small and is of unclear significance," said lead researcher Dr. Douglas Galasko, a professor in residence in the department of neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego.

"Patients did not show cognitive improvement in this short-term study; in fact, there was a slight worsening on one test of cognition in patients who received the antioxidant combination," Galasko said.

Aging causes oxidative damage in the brain, which is extensive in people with Alzheimer's disease. Clinical trials looking at whether a diet rich in antioxidants could reduce that risk have had mixed results, the researchers said.

This study does not support using any of these antioxidants once a diagnosis is made of established Alzheimer's disease, Galasko said. "If antioxidants continue to be tested against Alzheimer's disease, newer approaches or drugs may be needed," he said.

This study, published in the March 19 online edition of the Archives of Neurology, does not address whether taking antioxidants could help to prevent Alzheimer's disease, he noted. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia among older people.

For the study, Galasko's team gave antioxidant supplements to 78 patients with Alzheimer's disease who were part of a study funded by the U.S. National Institute on Aging. The patients were placed into three groups. One group received daily doses of vitamin E, vitamin C and alpha-lipoic acid. A second group was given coenzyme Q (a compound made naturally in the body to protect cells from damage) three times a day.
The third group received a placebo. After 16 weeks, 66 patients had their cerebrospinal fluid analyzed.
Among the three groups, the researchers found no difference in markers related to Alzheimer's disease in the cerebrospinal fluid. These markers included the amyloid-beta protein and the proteins tau and P-tau.
Galasko's group did see lower levels of one marker called F2-isoprostane, which could indicate a reduction in oxidative stress in the brain. However, the use of vitamins might have increased the pace of the disease, causing faster decline in mental ability, they cautioned.

Greg Cole, associate director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, said that vitamin E alone has shown some limited benefits in Alzheimer patients, but with no evidence that it really works to reduce oxidative damage, and that alpha lipoate -- a form of alpha-lipoic acid -- alone has also had some reported benefits, he said.

"Unfortunately, these researchers found no impact on pathological protein levels, and in their small group of patients, their cognitive function actually declined more than in the placebo group," Cole noted.

The increased cognitive decline might be due to random variation, he said, "or it may be a surprising but real adverse effect from something as seemingly innocuous as an antioxidant cocktail."

His research group has seen similar adverse effects from some, but not all, antioxidant mixes, he said.

"This should be a caution to the supplement manufacturers who typically sell products throwing in some mix of what seems like a great group of sensible antioxidants," he added. "Everyone assumes that they will work well together and are good for you, but they don't test them."

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Green Tea Can Save Lives

Sugar-free coffee or green tea: which is healthier?

Sugar-free coffee gives you taste and benefits of coffee with fewer calories. Green tea, on the other hand, is a healthy drink because it is a decent source of antioxidant polyphenols.
A refreshing and calorie-safe beverage, green tea works as a good substitute for unhealthy beverages regularly consumed in today's lifestyles. So, now that both sugar-free coffee and green tea are healthy, we wonder which is healthier. Let's take a look...

Advantages of green tea
Green tea contains flavonoids (epigallocatechin ) gallate, or EGCG. New research published in the Journal of Nutrition reports that flavonoids EGCG extracts of green tea lower the harmful effects of high blood sugar. This EGCG can prevent damage to the major organs like the coronary arteries lining of the heart muscle. (via)

Some researches have found that green tea reduces the respiration quotient and increases your metabolic rate, albeit temporarily and to a marginal extent only. One study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1999, reports that those drinking green tea increased their total energy expenditure by 3.5 percent and a jump in the proportion of energy came from fat, which rose from 31 to 41 percent. (via)

Advantages of sugar-free coffee
A longitudinal study in 2009 found that moderate coffee drinkers had a reduced risk of developing dementia in addition to Alzheimer's disease. Some preliminary research evidence shows that coffee acts against beta-amyloid plaque that may have a causative role in Alzheimer's. These findings were published in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

A moderate coffee drinker who drinks around 3-4 cups of coffee in a day had 65 % less chances of getting dementia later in life. This is a new study from the University Of Kuopio, Finland and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Research has shown that a person who is a moderate coffee drinker has less chances of getting gallstones diseases. Two such studies were done by the Harvard School Of Public Health.

Caffeine is the most commonly consumed psychoactive drug in the world. If you take caffeine in the form of coffee, it will increase the effectiveness of the pain killers, especially in migraine and headache medications.

Some primarily studies has shown that coffee helps boost short term memory. The study in 2005 was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) In which they demonstrated that caffeine modulates short-term working memory. Some cognitive performance tests of simple reaction time, choice reaction time, incidental verbal memory, and visuo spatial reasoning, have shown that participants who regularly drank coffee were found to perform better on all tests.

Roasted coffee contains antioxidant, which in turn contain the anti-cancer compound methylpyridinium. Coffee also increases your energy level after you drink it. But it is a temporary hike. Caffeine can stimulates the central nervous system for a few hours.

Bottom-line: Both, sugar-free coffee and green tea come with their own benefits. Each benefit kicks in only for a few hours, whether it is increased metabolism or migraine relief. Thus, both beverages are good - but in controlled measures. Research suggests that coffee and green tea are good in doses of maximum three cups a day. Therefore, if one uses them as substitutes for unhealthy beverages, they - each - benefit you. Remember, that no single beverage can keep you away from disease and weight gain. If you rely on green tea for weight management without eating healthy and exercising, even eight cups won't help you. Therefore, pick the beverage you prefer based on taste as this will help you develop a lifelong habit, and stick to overall healthy lfiestyle guidelines.


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Green Tea – The Magic Shrub: Benefits of Green Tea

The truth about green tea

HEALTHY FOODS — By Mini Padikkal — Green tea is the second most popular drink consumed worldwide after water. It has many beneficial roles which have made it very common among people. Green tea, the unfermented leaf of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, is richer in polyphenols than other types of tea.
This is because it is produced by steaming fresh leaves instead of fermenting them as done with black and oolong teas. Green tea retains useful natural products called polyphenol catechins (EGCG-epigallocatechin-3-gallate) the most active of which are believed to be responsible for the health benefits of green tea.
People prefer to drink green tea because of its attractive flavour and taste. Green tea is a popular natural remedy for many health problems and has been used for thousands of years. The following are some of the benefits of green tea and why you may want to consider pouring yourself a few cups a day.

EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate): One of the major benefits of green tea has to do with a compound called EGCG. This is a powerful antioxidant. Not only does it prevent cancer cells from growing, but it also kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. This has been scientifically tested, and in 1994 the National Cancer Society published results finding that green tea reduced certain cancers in men and women by 60 per cent. The ingredient EGCG is a potent antioxidant; about 200 times more powerful than vitamin E which neutralises pro-oxidants and free radicals. EGCG can also block the cancer promoting effect of carcinogens in the body. In addition to cancer, the powerful EGCG compound also boosts your overall immunity. Other health benefits include combating depression, headaches, and infection.

Obesity (overweight) is a well-known risk factor for insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes. Patients can benefit from using green tea every day to help boost metabolism. Weight loss benefit of green tea comes from high concentration of poly phenols in green tea which helps to oxidise fat and encourage thermogenesis. Thermogenesis in the body can be defined as the rate at which the body burns calories. Studies have shown that green tea can increase the feeling of fullness stimulating the breakdown of fats. This can help facilitate weight loss by reducing the appetite and food intake.

Patients with diabetes can benefit in many different ways by adding this powerful anti-oxidant to their daily diet. Green tea is low in calories and natural sugars so diabetic patients can enjoy this beverage and reap the many health benefits of this drink without increasing their glucose levels. Research studies have found that green tea can improve glucose metabolism and benefit diabetics in the following ways:

• Improving glucose metabolism by increasing insulin sensitivity • Lowering fasting blood glucose levels • Improving kidney function • Improving liver function • Lowering triglyceride levels • Reducing damage to insulin- producing cells

Green tea is the best anti-aging supplements available. The most important of the active ingredients in green tea is EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) and this EGCG is responsible for most of the anti-aging health benefits.

The natural antioxidants in tea may have a strong effect on heart disease, controlling blood pressure and lowering cholesterol. Green tea also helps lower your bad cholesterol while boosting your good levels. This can prevent heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases.

Green tea is the perfect choice to improve outer appearance as well as the inner health of people. The anti-oxidants included in the tea not only improve your health but can also improve the appearance of your hair, skin and even improve your eye sight.

Green tea can help beat bad breath, according to scientific research. The study found that antioxidants in the tea, called poly phenols, destroy a number of compounds in the mouth that can lead to bad breath, tooth decay and even mouth cancer. The most common way to reap its benefits is to drink about 3 cups of green tea a day (provides 240-320 mg poly phenols). A cup is made with 1 teaspoon of tea leaves in 8 ounces boiling water. Add a little honey for a special treat. In cold weather there is nothing more satisfying than hot tea and in warm weather nothing greater than iced tea. You can really drink this all year round with ease. Green tea is available in most of the shops in Sultanate in different flavours. So sit back, relax yourself and enjoy the benefit !

— The writer is a dietician at
Atlas star Medical Centre, Al Khuwair, Muscat.

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Green Tea – The Magic Shrub: Benefits of Green Tea

Green tea can save lives: Study

Green tea can save lives, says a recent study.

Drinking one or two cups of green tea every day could help you fight bad breath and even prevent mouth and esophageal cancer, claims the study published in the journal Archives of Oral Biology.

The researchers say the antioxidants, called polyphenols, found in the tea, help in eradicating several compounds in the mouth that can lead to bad breath, tooth decay and even mouth cancer.

Earlier research on the beverage proved that it helps reduce cardio-vascular problems, induces weight reduction and also boosts immunity to a great extent, the latest findings have given more reasons for people to switch their morning coffee with the healthy green tea.

The latest study examines the properties of the polyphenol called epigallocatechin 3 gallate (EGCG) in particular, which helps reduce dental plaques and thus destroys the bacteria that cause bad breath.

“Green tea is rich in flavonoids and has a lot of anti-oxidants. The presence of polyphenols makes it anti-carcinogenic and helps in preventing cancer. It also increases the metabolic rate and reduces the risk of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s,” points out Dr. Meenakshi Bajaj, dietician at the Rajiv Gandhi government general hospital.

Green tea is made from the same plant as black tea, but the different manner in which it is processed results in it retaining less caffeine and more polyphenols. As it is consumed without milk or sugar it helps in weight reduction.

“A lot of people are consuming green tea these days and it is a healthy trend. However, it is potassium high, so patients suffering from kidney failure should refrain from drinking green tea,” said Dr Bajaj.

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Green tea can save lives: Study

Green Tea – The Magic Shrub: Benefits of Green Tea

Also known as virgin or tea unfermented tea, green tea is made from the leaves of Camelia sinensis. Black tea is different from that due process requires getting off the natural process of fermentation. Immediately after harvesting, leaves are steam, dry run. The drying preserves vitamins (A, B, E and C) and minerals (iron, calcium, phosphorus and potassium)

Green Tea - The Magic Shrub: Benefits of Green Tea

Green tea also contains: essential oils, TEIN, catechici tannin, flavonoids (quercetin, quercitrina), amino teaflavina, tearubigina, proteins, alkaloids (theobromine, theophylline, dimetilxantina, xanthine, adenine).
There is a legend about how green tea first became a drink: A Chinese emperor was drinking hot water when some leaves dropped into his cup. He quickly become fond of the drink and its popularity spread. Those leaves were from a tea shrub, and he is reputed to be the first imbiber of green tea. The only drink more popular in the world today than green tea and its brown cousins is water.

In the last couple of decades many of the powers of green tea have turned out to have scientific merit. Among these, the most significant are the polyphenols found in green tea, which are powerful antioxidant chemicals that work to prevent many different kinds of cell damage.

TOP TEN POWERS OF GREEN TEA

1) Regular consumption of green tea may help guard against heart attacks.
2) 10 ounces of green tea markedly increase your body’s antioxidant powers for a minimum of two hours. This amount of green tea yields the same benefits as 10 ounces of red wine.
3) Green tea helps to lessen indigestion.
4) There is evidence that green tea may help obese people to burn off more fat calories.
5) Green tea contains an antioxidant called EGCG, which attacks cancer cells.
6) Preliminary research indicates that green tea may also help to prevent stomach, skin, and breast cancer.
7) Drinking green tea regularly has long been associated with a longer life.
Green tea helps to prevent arthritis, and those who already have arthritis find that green tea is effective in reducing inflammation.
9) Capsules of green tea have a more powerful antioxidant effect than green tea taken as a liquid.
10) Green tea extracts used in shampoos and skin creams have not been shown to provide tangible health benefits.

Green tea does not appear to interact negatively with any medications. It also appears that high levels of green tea consumption do not bring on any negative effects. When green tea does have an unpleasant impact, however, it is usually because of the caffeine contained in it. A simple solution is to purchase decaffeinated green tea. Green tea supplements are also lower in caffeine than the regular brewed green tea.

One caution in terms of effectiveness is not to boil green tea, as this destroys its powerful attributes. There are no clear dietary guidelines for green tea. It is, however, thought that 3-4 cups of green tea per day provides a full measure of protection against cancer, arthritis, and aging. As a supplement up to 250 mg of green tea is recommended as a twice-daily dosage to get the full anti-aging benefits

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Jeju's green image befits a world-class environmental forum

As the early morning light hit the green rolling hills of the O’sulloc tea garden in Andeok district, Seogwipo City, late last month, those present for the first tea leaf picking of 2012 could say spring had truly arrived on Jeju.

Geography has made the first tea crop on Jeju an important event for the domestic tea industry.

“Symbolically, it’s important because we’re introducing the fresh [tea] out onto the market first,” said Howard Kim, group director for KPR & Associates. Inc., the public relations firm for O’sulloc farm. “This proves that Jeju is the perfect place to grow tea.”

The island’s clean environment is also a fitting venue for the world’s largest environment symposium. Held every four years, 2012 marks Jeju’s turn to host the World Conservation Congress (WCC).

The Korean government signed O’sulloc to be an official sponsor of the six-day event, Sept. 6 to Sept. 15.

In recognition of this agreement and the first tea picking of the season in the O’sullock tea fields, members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) — the parent organization of the congress — Jeju WCC Promotion Office employees, and WCC Korea Organizing Committee members were on hand for a press event.

“Sulloc tea and its parent, Amorae Pacific, are sponsoring the congress and supporting the congress and all the aims of the congress as well,” said IUCN Director of Global Communications John Kidd. “And of course the congress being here in Jeju, it is wonderful that Sulloc being such an important part of the Jeju economy is supporting the congress.”

He added that not only will O’sulloc be a WCC sponsor, but “all the delegates who come to the congress — thousands and thousands of people — they’ll all have a chance to have some Sulloc green tea.”

Since 2009 the farming of the tea is 100 percent organic and a growing local business, so “it’s nice that a congress like the WCC, which is so much about sustainability, environmentally friendly agriculture has a supporter like O’sulloc green tea,” said Kidd.

With less than six months until Jeju hosts the congress, Kidd told The Weekly about some of the latest developments.

For one, the IUCN has been promoting the congress, and will continue to do so, through its various international events like the upcoming Rio+20 conference in Brazil this June. During this event, the IUCN — along with several Korean members — will be on hand to promote the Jeju WCC.

Kidd also outlined work on the World Leaders’ Dialog — a series of five debates by heads of state, important environmentalists, and business leaders, as well as a first in the WCC’s 64-year history — and elaborated on the themes that will be tackled during these sessions.

Nature+Climate, Nature+Food, and Nature+Economy, will look to find “nature-based solutions to climate change, food security, and economic growth,” Kidd said.

Nature+People will look at how societies manage and preserve nature through governance, and Nature+Life will examine the importance of biodiversity to our existence by questioning the economic and social value of nature.

Currently, the Jeju WCC Promotion Office is planning to transform the congress into a month-long affair expanding the venue from just the International Convention Center Jeju in Jungmun, Seogwipo City, to various locations on the island like the Haenyeo Museum in the northeast and other cultural sites.

“We have already meet the [residences] of the 11 spots and they support our plan,” said Kim Yang Bo, director of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province WCC Promotion Office. “They have come together to make the congress.”

He told The Weekly that the 11 locations have already compiled a total of 350 different programs that include festivals, concerts, and workshops to highlight the different village cultures and histories.

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Green Tea May Muddle Olympic Doping Tests

By Maria Cheng | AP

Olympic doping officials are considering whether to tweak their tests after a recent British study showed green tea might hide testosterone from the standard test used to spot it.



The study was a test in a lab dish so scientists aren’t sure if the effects will be the same in people. But some experts say the results are intriguing enough that Olympic testing could be updated to include that possibility.
“It’s interesting that something as common as tea could have a significant influence on the steroid profile,” said Olivier Rabin, scientific director of the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA. He said other foods and beverages, such as alcohol, are also known to muddle test results.

“We may need to adjust our steroid (test) to allow us to exclude whether a test is modified by food or training or disease, before we can say that it’s doping,” Rabin said. He said they might have to raise their normal threshold for what is a considered a legal amount of testosterone to allow for any such interference.

In the study, researchers added green and white tea extracts — or catechins — to testosterone and tested whether the enzyme that usually detects testosterone in the body could still identify it. Tea seemed to reduce the testosterone concentration by up to 30 percent and appeared to work best when testosterone was only slightly higher than normal. Similar results have been found in rodent studies, Rabin said.

Experts say athletes taking testosterone for doping purposes typically have 200 to 300 percent more in their bodies than normal.

WADA has tight controls on other commonly consumed substances like caffeine. It bans diuretics that could mask drug use and warns athletes about taking nutritional supplements, which could be spiked with banned drugs.

The researchers said it was too early to tell what the effect of green tea might be in humans, but said other beverages or foods likely produced similar effects.

“There’s no reason to think we just happened to pick the only food in the world that does this,” said Declan Naughton of Kingston University, who published the green tea research with colleagues in the journal Steroids.

Naughton said the green tea contains catechins, also found in white tea, which seem to stop an enzyme involved in detecting testosterone. By preventing that enzyme from working, testosterone largely goes unnoticed in the body and doesn’t get passed into the urine — where officials usually test for the hormone.
Charles Yesalis, a doping expert at Pennsylvania State University, said officials needed to react quickly.
“Athletes will not wait for the clinical trials,” he said. “I’ll bet there are already lots of athletes out there drinking loads of green tea,” he added.

Yesalis said many scientists were aware of foods that could skew drug tests but would not talk publicly about them. “There’s no sense helping out the doping athletes by telling them what to eat,” he said.
Yesalis was unconvinced that new tests could solve the problem. “There’s too much scientific uncertainty that can cloud the results,” he said.

WADA’s Rabin said all atypical results from doping tests involved an expert analysis, not just a lab result. “There’s a human interpretation of the data,” he said, explaining that officials regularly accounted for potentially troublesome results by considering things like intense exercise, jet lag and diet.

Rabin also said it might be possible to test for testosterone in blood rather than the standard urine test.
Some experts said the limited effects of foods like green tea on masking illegal drug use would be too small to help doping athletes. “You would probably need to drink the tea continuously to get any sustained but minor effect,” said Andrew Kicman, head of research and development at the Drug Control Centre at King’s College London, which is providing the anti-doping laboratory for the upcoming Olympics.

“It would be a very foolish athlete who’s thinking of doping with testosterone and thinks he could drink white or green tea to beat a drug test,” he said. “And I personally wouldn’t want to drink nine cups of tea on the day of a race.”

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/04/06/green-tea-may-muddle-olympic-doping-tests/#ixzz1rKNBJiRv

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Benefits of Green Tea For Skin 

Green tea could cloud Olympic doping tests

By MARIA CHENG

LONDON
 
Olympic doping officials are considering whether to tweak their tests after a recent British study showed green tea might hide testosterone from the standard test used to spot it.

The study was a test in a lab dish so scientists aren't sure if the effects will be the same in people. But some experts say the results are intriguing enough that Olympic testing could be updated to include that possibility.
"It's interesting that something as common as tea could have a significant influence on the steroid profile," said Olivier Rabin, scientific director of the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA. He said other foods and beverages, such as alcohol, are also known to muddle test results.

"We may need to adjust our steroid (test) to allow us to exclude whether a test is modified by food or training or disease, before we can say that it's doping," Rabin said. He said they might have to raise their normal threshold for what is a considered a legal amount of testosterone to allow for any such interference.
In the study, researchers added green and white tea extracts -- or catechins -- to testosterone and tested whether the enzyme that usually detects testosterone in the body could still identify it. Tea seemed to reduce the testosterone concentration by up to 30 percent and appeared to work best when testosterone was only slightly higher than normal. Similar results have been found in rodent studies, Rabin said.

Experts say athletes taking testosterone for doping purposes typically have 200 to 300 percent more in their bodies than normal.

WADA has tight controls on other commonly consumed substances like caffeine. It bans diuretics that could mask drug use and warns athletes about taking nutritional supplements, which could be spiked with banned drugs.

The researchers said it was too early to tell what the effect of green tea might be in humans, but said other beverages or foods likely produced similar effects.

"There's no reason to think we just happened to pick the only food in the world that does this," said Declan Naughton of Kingston University, who published the green tea research with colleagues in the journal, Steroids.

Naughton said the green tea contains catechins, also found in white tea, which seem to stop an enzyme involved in detecting testosterone. By preventing that enzyme from working, testosterone largely goes unnoticed in the body and doesn't get passed into the urine -- where officials usually test for the hormone.
Charles Yesalis, a doping expert at Pennsylvania State University, said officials needed to react quickly.
"Athletes will not wait for the clinical trials," he said. "I'll bet there are already lots of athletes out there drinking loads of green tea," he added.

Yesalis said many scientists were aware of foods that could skew drug tests but would not talk publicly about them. "There's no sense helping out the doping athletes by telling them what to eat," he said.
Yesalis was unconvinced that new tests could solve the problem. "There's too much scientific uncertainty that can cloud the results," he said.

WADA's Rabin said all atypical results from doping tests involved an expert analysis, not just a lab result. "There's a human interpretation of the data," he said, explaining that officials regularly accounted for potentially troublesome results by considering things like intense exercise, jetlag and diet.

Rabin also said it might be possible to test for testosterone in blood rather than the standard urine test.
Some experts said the limited effects of foods like green tea on masking illegal drug use would be too small to help doping athletes. "You would probably need to drink the tea continuously to get any sustained but minor effect," said Andrew Kicman, head of research and development at the Drug Control Centre at King's College London, which is providing the anti-doping laboratory for the upcoming Olympics.

"It would be a very foolish athlete who's thinking of doping with testosterone and thinks he could drink white or green tea to beat a drug test," he said. "And I personally wouldn't want to drink nine cups of tea on the day of a race."

Source

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Green Tea for Skin

Extremely High Antioxidant Concentrate Can Now Be Extracted From Tea

By Emma Hutchings on April 4, 2012

South African company Green Cell Technologies claims to have created a super-antioxidant extract from tea with an Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) value of 1,700,000 per 100g. This is the highest known commercially extracted ORAC value from any plant material and could be a radical breakthrough in antioxidant health supplements.

According to Beverage Daily, the company says its Dynamic Cell Disruption method has enabled it to produce these green tea and rooibos tea extracts. This destabilises the structures of the plant cells and releases all of the actives instead of just part of them.

Green Cell Technolgies think they have found a way of relieving the body of free radicals with fewer cups of green or rooibos tea. However, Dr. Jorg Grunwald, president of natural products consultancy analyze&realize, has said that the results need to be verified because they seem very high:

Brunswick Laboratories is the only lab recognised as performing legally acceptable ORAC measurements. The range given is practically unbelievable – only spices have been shown to deliver ORAC values of 300,000.

via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2012/04/radical-antioxidant-extract-te.html#ixzz1r7INdqXR

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Tea made from panda feces expected to be most expensive brew in the world 
Green Tea for Skin

Tea: the cup that cheers

By Zhang Yuchen (China Daily) China has around 1,500 varieties of tea. They are divided into seven main categories:  

Green tea: 
 
Green tea has historically been Asia's most famous tea and is popular in the West as well. The secret of green tea lies in the fact that it is rich in antioxidant sucatechin polyphenols, specifically epigallocatechin gallate, that fight cancer without any negative side effects. There are indications that drinking green tea also reduces cholesterol levels and may help to control blood clots.

Black tea: 
 
There are dozens of variations, each with its own characteristic, from very sweet and light to dark and dry. It's possible to find the perfect match for every taste preference. Famous black teas are Qimen Black, Yunnan Black, Lapsang Souchong and Minnan Black (also known as Tan Yang Kongfu).

Oolong tea: 
 
The spelling "oolong" (also "wulong") is a phonetic transcription of the Chinese characters, approximating to the sound of spoken Chinese, or more specifically, Mandarin. The correct transcription is "wulong cha" in pinyin. It includes the most famous Wuyi Rock teas and different types of tieguanyin.

Pu'er tea: 
 
Pu'er tea is grown in southern Yunnan province. The tea is famous for its health benefits, history and post-fermentation characteristics. Pu'er has both "raw" and "cooked" varieties. The raw version exhibits a green color and matures over a number of years. The cooked variety is black in color and has an earthy flavor.

White tea: 
 
Not as popular as other varieties, but good alternatives are Silver Needle and White Peony, and a white tea from Yunnan, a fermented white tea cake and white tea bricks. It contains a greater number of antioxidants than other teas.

Yellow tea: 
 
Nowadays, yellow tea is only found in a few locations in China, mainly because it is difficult to process. Only three varieties are well known: Meng Ding from Sichuan province, Junshan Silver Needle from Hunan and the Huoshan Yellow Buds from Anhui. Both the leaves and the brewed tea are yellow-green in color. The taste is fresh, with a slight hint of pepper.

Scented teas: 
 
Scented teas are made by combining high quality tea leaves with the fragrances and tastes of blossoms, for example, jasmine or pomelo flowers.

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Green Tea for Skin

Tea sends message of hope

By Andrew Stein

MASAHIR TAKADA, A tea master from Japan, prepares tea during his recent visit to Stone Leaf Tea House in Middlebury. Takada has created an aid project for victims of the devastating tsunami that hit northeast Japan last year. As part of his project, hundreds of Vermonters have sent tea with notes of hope to some of the victims. Independent photo/Trent Campbell

MIDDLEBURY — Barely one year after a tsunami devastated a portion of Japan’s northeastern coast — causing one of the biggest nuclear disasters in history — Masahir Takada made his way to Middlebury, further cementing his relationship with Vermonters who reached out to Japan after the disaster.

Takada is a tea master from Uji, Japan, the birthplace of Japanese green tea (see sidebar), who came to the U.S. this year to meet with his many tea contacts and extend a warm thank you for all of their support since the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami. Before arriving in Middlebury last month to hold demonstrations at Stone Leaf Tea House and Middlebury College, he made an appearance at the San Francisco Tea Festival.

Uji, which is located in western Japan’s Kyoto prefecture, was not directly affected by the tsunami. But after one of the most powerful earthquakes on record — magnitude 9.0 — triggered the most devastating tsunami in Japanese history, Takada worked day in and day out for much of the past year to help thousands of people who were left homeless and without families.

Not all green tea is made alike
What’s the difference between Chinese green tea and Japanese green tea? The way in which oxidation is stopped.

First, it’s important to understand that what distinguishes green tea from black tea is the tea’s level of oxidation. Green tea is the least oxidized of all tea categories and black tea is the most oxidized. Oxidation occurs when we bite into an apple and it turns brown. The same thing happens to tea when its cellular structure is broken and exposed to oxygen.

All green teas remain green because oxidation is halted at an early stage — generally, several hours after the leaves are picked. Heating the leaves to the point where the oxidizing enzymes are deactivated stops this process.

The main difference between Chinese green teas and Japanese green teas is how this oxidation is halted.

In China, tealeaves are roasted using a range of different methods, where in Japan they’re steamed. Chinese green teas are often characterized by a roasted honey flavor, where Japanese green teas exhibit more of a bright oceanic or seaweed element.

Either way, both kinds of green teas and many other teas that come from the tea plant species — camellia sinensis — are packed full of carcinogen-fighting antioxidants that have been proven to help humans detoxify their bodies.

THE PROJECT

When a German friend of Takada’s reached out to him after the natural disaster, Takada initiated what he calls “phase one” of his aid project — emergency packages. Using funds raised by the friend — whom Takada knows through the Japanese martial art of kendo — Takada created packaged sets of necessities: bulk rice, clothes, medicines, various foods and other provisions. The rice was from his own fields and other supplies were gathered from stores across the country.

“Fortunately, I had a lot of stock at this time, so I sent a lot of rice,” he said.

To receive and allocate these packages, Takada had point people in the Japanese cities of Sendai and Ishinomaki, places that were hit especially hard by the tsunami.

Phase two of the project is what brought him to Middlebury — tea.

Using the world’s most widely consumed beverage — and a centerpiece of Japanese culture — Takada delivered foreign sentiments of hope to those in need of encouragement.

“After this donation from the kendo people, I started to make another donation (on behalf of) the many teashops in Europe and the United States,” said Takada, who ships tea to high-end tea shops around the world.

Takada sent thousands of small tea packets, containing Japanese green tea, to these teashops, among them Middlebury’s Stone Leaf Tea House. On each packet was a space to write a note. The packets of tea were, in effect, postcards for families in need to receive warm wishes and tea.

“Each card had messages in English, Italian, French and many other languages,” he said. “On the backside I explained the meaning behind the project and sent it up north.”

Customers at Stone Leaf and the other teahouses were urged to write their message to the Japanese affected by the earthquake and tsunami and send the packets back to Takada.

In total, more than 2,000 tea postcards reached earthquake victims, including more than 200 from Stone Leaf customers and friends. Takada funded this part of the project. It was not aimed at attracting big donations, he said, that just wasn’t the point.

“The people who live in the foreign countries wanted to do something for Japan. This way people are directly attached to people … no big donations will disappear to some place,” he said. “Tea is the bridge between countries.”

To many, a little packet of tea might not seem like much to victims of a natural disaster. But to a society like Japan’s, where the smallest of gestures can carry the weight of the world, this notion spoke loudly about the feelings of foreign nations for the Japanese people, said Takada.

The Japanese scholar Kakuzo Okakura addressed this in his 1906 classic, “The Book of Tea.”
“Those who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are apt to overlook the greatness of little things in others,” he wrote.

DEVASTATION AND RECOVERY

On a sunny day in the Middlebury teahouse in mid-March, over a pot of steaming tea, Takada flipped through a slideshow, recounting the devastation that followed the tsunami.

He showed pictures of crushed cars and leveled houses in Ishinomaki.

“This is the worst city,” he said. “Everything was destroyed.”

He showed a picture of the kendo dojo in Sendai.

“Some of the people lost their houses, but they still continued their practice,” he said. “It makes their spirit strong. If they stop this practice, maybe they’d lose the power.”

When asked if the tea regions were harmed, he replied, “Not by earthquake damage — by nuclear damage.”

As is well known, the nuclear power reactors in Fukushima, Japan, lost electricity to power water pumps and some of the nuclear materials began to overheat and disperse radioactivity.

While Uji’s tea and western Japanese tea regions were left untouched by the radioactivity, higher levels of radiation were discovered in coastal tea regions along the east side of Japan, including parts of Shizuoka, the country’s largest tea producing region.

The devastation wrought by nuclear contamination from the crushed Fukushima Daiichi reactor has left a sour taste in the mouths of the Japanese. Only two of the country’s 54 reactors are currently operating, and the government is looking to renewable sources of energy for the future, said Takada.

One year later, Japan is still reeling. Much of the Northeast is rebuilding from scratch, and dealing with nuclear contamination on such a massive scale presents many difficulties. Takada said citizens are concerned that the government will try to store the waste from the nuclear reactors in their cities.

Recovery has also been slower than expected because the government must now carry out city planning with new challenges in mind. In many cities, the government will no longer permit residential development along the coast, said Takada.

For those families and people whose homes were destroyed, Takada said they’re living in government housing.

“Everybody is doing their best to recover,” he said. “For the people who lost it all, most people are living in just a simple house that was built by the government. But the conditions are not so good. They want their own houses.

“They are recovering step by step.”

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Green Tea for Skin