Herbal Supplement Improves Lung Health

By CP Staff

A new study investigated the protective role that a popular herbal tea has on mortality due to pneumonia, a lung infection usually caused by bacteria or viruses, and sometimes by fungi. Over 1 million Americans are hospitalized each year for treatment of pneumonia. Of those individuals that require hospitalization, it is estimated that 10-25 percent die from the infection, resulting in 40,000 to 70,000 deaths each year. Currently, pneumonia is the leading cause of infection-related deaths worldwide.

In this new study, researchers evaluated green tea intake and the risk of pneumonia in Japanese adults. The subjects included 19,079 men and 21,493 women 40-79 years of age. The subjects completed a food-frequency questionnaire at the beginning of the study that included green tea intake. The subjects were followed for 12 years to evaluate pneumonia-related deaths in this population.

The results showed that as the daily intake of green tea increased, the risk of pneumonia-related deaths in women decreased significantly. The women who drank 1-2 cups of green tea per day reduced the risk of death caused by pneumonia by 41 percent compared to the subjects that drank less than one cup of green tea per day. Furthermore, drinking 3-4 cups of green tea reduced the risk of pneumonia-related mortality by 45 percent, and drinking 5 or more cups per day reduced the risk of death from pneumonia by 47 percent compared to the women who drank less than one cup of green tea per day. A similar association was not found in the male subjects.

Thus, the study authors stated, “Green tea consumption was associated with a lower risk of death from pneumonia in Japanese women.”

Reference:

Watanabe I, Kuriyama S, Kakizaki M, Sone T, Ohmori-Matsuda K, Nakaya N, Hozawa A, Tsuji I. Green tea and death from pneumonia in Japan: the Ohsaki cohort study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Sep;90(3):672-9.

Individuals who do not want to consume large amounts of green tea as a beverage can take green tea extract capsules. The green tea extract available here is very low in caffeine and has a high EGCG content.