Prescription For Healthy Skin: Hot Tea With a Twist

[Caraj]

Prescription For Healthy Skin: Hot Tea with a Twist
By Ralph Moss, Ph.D.
www.cancerdecisions.com

News from the breakfast front... start putting a twist of lemon peel into your hot tea. The reason is a recent study showing that people who drink hot tea with a twist of citrus peel have far fewer cases of squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) than those who do not.

Scientists at the University of Arizona studied the drinking habits of 450 people, half of whom had SCC. They found that those who regularly drank hot tea had a 40 percent reduction in the incidence of this common type of skin cancer. But those who added a twist of citrus peel to their hot tea had a remarkable 70 percent reduction. They also had an equivalent reduction in severe sunburn, a predisposing cause of squamous cell and other skin cancers {Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2001 Jun;10(6):667-78}.

The Tucson scientists found no particular benefit (in this regard) to citrus juice or citrus fruit... just the peel. Citrus peels are the major source of a chemical called d- limonene, which seems to have a protective effect against skin cancer.

But why hot (and not iced) tea? The reason seems to be that iced tea becomes too diluted to be of much benefit. {Nutr Cancer 2000;37(2):161-8}.

These enterprising Arizonans hope to develop and market food supplements for the prevention of skin cancer. Well, good luck to them. But why would you purchase some expensive tea-and-lemon peel pill when you can brew up a delicious cup of the real thing for a couple of pennies?

So how about drinking more tea right now? I myself prefer organic decaffeinated tea. Just keep a lemon and a vegetable peeler handy. Twist the peel and you can actually see the "zest" spritzing onto the surface of the tea.

As to the iced tea question, I brew up a large teapot in the morning and let the teabags soak for a while until the tea gets very strong. I then take that strong tea and let it return to a normal strength as it melts the ice cubes. And then I twist some more lemon peel in for good measure.