The latest news on green tea is a study showing that green tea might help prevent oral cancers. This is just a small study, and the researchers admit that “While still very early, and not definitive proof that green tea is an effective preventive agent, these results certainly encourage more study for patients at highest risk for oral cancer.” Test subjects also took the equivalent of 8-10 cups per day — a substantial quantity. Nevertheless, green tea has many benefits for those who drink it, and more are being found on a regular basis.

Sure, everybody loves the fact that green tea has a little bit of caffeine. It’s also got lots of plant chemicals that seem to be good for humans. Recent stories you may have seen on your local news station include the idea that green tea can help prevent flu, and help people lose weight. As for actual research, here’s some recently published studies:

• A study of over 42,000 Japanese people shows that green tea drinkers experience less stress.
• Another similarly large Japanese study shows that green tea is associated with a reduced risk of blood cancer.
• Yet more research from Japan shows that green tea may cut the risk of death from pneumonia.
• A meta-study of 51 green tea research studies shows that while green tea drinkers are less likely to get some cancers, the evidence on other cancers was “conflicting“. They did however conclude that “Drinking green tea appears to be safe at moderate, regular and habitual use.”
• Finally, it seems that a bit of lemon in your tea is good for you. As a pure bonus, this research seems to indicate that less safety testing of food and beverages on animals will need to be done in the future.

That’s just a handful of recent items. In addition to confirming that the Japanese love green tea, studies continue to support the idea that green tea is good for us — or at the very least, not harmful. Perhaps it’s tea-time.