Menopause - Green Tea is Your Lifesaver During Menopause Treatment

Do you have to take synthetic or bio-identical estrogen to mask menopause symptoms? Then you should know that the side effects, such as breast swelling and uterine bleeding, bother many menopause women daily who take estrogen.

Estrogen was listed as one of the most potent chemical carcinogens in a biology textbook (Levine & Miller, 1994). Estrogen is a reproductive hormone, so most of its functioning sites are in the breasts and the uterus. No wonder all hormone treatments for menopause cause breast swelling and uterine bleeding. No wonder your doctor has to screen for cancers with mammograms and Pap smears routinely during your menopause treatment.

Good news for menopause women who are taking hormones: "Green tea is the single best cancer fighter." said a director at a cancer prevention center in New York. Green tea has 20 times more free-radical fighting power than vitamin E and 200 times more than vitamin C. Nature packs green tea with EGCG, a great antioxidant which shows impressive activity against many kinds of cancer. Studies found that EGCG inhibits a key enzyme for cancer development.

EGCG is one class of a larger group of protective phyto-chemicals. Phyto-chemicals are natural chemicals widely distributed in plants. That is why eating more fruits and vegetables, in whatever form, is a great way to prevent cancers.

Extracts of green tea have been shown to prevent cancer in animals, and recently similar claims have been made about black tea. All true tea comes from the same plant species (Camellia sinensis), such as black tea, pu-erh tea, and oolong- tea, so they should contain the same amount of EGCG. However, herbal teas, such as peppermint, are not true tea, because they are made from different plants, so they do not contain as much EGCG as real tea.

You need to drink four cups of green tea daily to get the optimal dose of EGCG. Pour boiling water over tea leaves and let it steep for 5 minutes. To get the most antioxidant benefit, don't add milk or sugar, and drink the tea immediately.

While the average American drinks 10 servings of green tea per year, the average Chinese drinks 150 servings per year. Although coffee increases heart rate, insomnia, nervousness, headache, irritability, diarrhea and frequent urination, so far, no negative effects have been reported on tea.

As Rome was not built in a day, cancer is not developed in a day. By the time you are diagnosed, the cancer has been in your body for 10 years. While you are taking estrogen to mask your menopause symptoms for years, estrogen stimulates your breasts and uterus everyday. Mammograms and Pap smears are only passive ways to prevent cancers.

Drinking tea is your daily anticancer weapon. It prevents cancer seeds from germinating and growing in your body. When the cancer is diagnosed, it has grown into a big cancer tree. The goal of chemotherapy and radiotherapy is to destroy the cancer tree, and obviously it is the last straw to save your life. Cancer risks increase as we age. Menopause women are especially susceptible to cancers while taking estrogen. Green tea is a great antidote to the cancer-causing effect by synthetic or bio-identical estrogen.