Yet Another Green Tea Benefit - An Anti-Smoking Agent

Catherine Felegi is the founder and author of the blog Tea Love, a blog dedicated to all things tea-related. You can find this post and others on her page, http://cafelegi.wordpress.com/.

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I freely admit, I abhor cigarettes.   There's no medical benefit to them, it harms those around you, it frankly doesn't smell that great and close to 90% of lung cancer in men and 80% in women are caused by these white sticks that rob you of your life.   I tell people it's their choice whether or not they choose to smoke but quite frankly, I also tell them that I feel they're making a stupid choice.   However, past that, if you really want to smoke, who am I to stop you?

With that being said, I know people who do smoke that, sadly, due to the cigarette's addictive nature, feel like they simply can't.   Sure, we all know about e-cigarettes, the patch, etc.   However, did you know that green tea is now shown to help kick the habit of smoking?

An article recently published in Science China Life Sciences called 'A Revolutionary Approach for the Cessation of Smoking', claims that you can make custom-designed cigarettes laced with green tea components in order to help get rid of those smoking cravings.   In clinical trials, after 2 months of smoking this unique cigarette, people reduced their smoking intake by 52%!   The famed nicotine patches and gum, it has been reported by the New York Times, might not help at all and in fact, may even be more harmful than good.

Phinse Philip, a lecturer in the Community Oncology Division of the Malabar Cancer Centre, said, "A majority of users smoke as it purportedly gives them some form of relaxation. The oral intake of the amino acid L-Theanine, uniquely found in green tea, is known to have anti-stress effects and acts as a relaxing agent. The study conducted in China shows that green tea may be an alternative to quit this addictive habit."

Thomas Varughese, head of surgical oncology and reconstructive surgery at Kochi's Lakeshore Hospital and Research Centre, even said drinking green tea after quitting smoking completely could contribute to reversing the possibility of lung cancer.   Imagine the revolutionary idea that green tea can not only help people kick a potentially deadly habit, but can also reverse the negative effects!

The health benefits of green tea, at this point, is rather common knowledge.   We are plagued by the media with thoughts of how green tea can cure cancer, make you lose weight, destroy free radicals, etc.   Well, here is another one to add onto this ever-growing list!

So, next time you want to light up, maybe drink up instead.