Smokers should drink more tea
Scientific studies have shown that drinking tea can reduce the harm caused by smoking. This is because components in tea, such as tea polyphenols and Vitamin C, can degrade the various harmful substances found in cigarettes. When you drink tea while smoking, the toxins can be continuously neutralized and expelled from the body through feces. There are many benefits for smokers who regularly drink tea.
Benefits of Regular Tea Drinking for Smokers
First, it can reduce the likelihood of cancer induced by smoking. Drinking tea has anti-cancer properties. Tea polyphenols in tea can inhibit the release of free radicals and control the proliferation of cancer cells. Free radicals are a group of harmful "waste products" generated by the body during its respiratory metabolic process while consuming oxygen. They exist in almost every cell in the human body and are a major hidden danger and "time bomb" for the body.
Research indicates that free radicals are also a major cause of genetic mutations and cancer. Normally, the human body is in a dynamic balance where free radicals are constantly being produced and eliminated. The free radicals produced by cigarettes disrupt this dynamic balance. When too many free radicals are produced, the body's chances of developing cancer increase. Catechins in tea are antioxidants and potent inhibitors of free radicals; they can inhibit tumor formation caused by smoking. Tea polyphenols in green tea are particularly effective at clearing free radicals and have a strong scavenging effect on superoxide anion radicals.
Research has confirmed that tea has the ability to block the synthesis of nitrosamines in the human body. After entering the body, tea polyphenols can combine with carcinogens, decompose them, and reduce their carcinogenic activity, thereby inhibiting the growth of cancer cells. Green tea leaves are rich in anti-cancer substances at concentrations high enough to produce an anti-cancer effect in the human body.
Second, it helps to reduce the radiation pollution caused by smoking. A person who smokes 30 cigarettes a day receives a dose of radioactive substances from cigarettes in one year that is equivalent to their skin being X-rayed about 300 times on a chest X-ray machine. Drinking tea can effectively prevent radioactive substances from invading the bone marrow and can quickly expel Strontium-90 and Cobalt-60 from the body. The catechins and lipopolysaccharides in tea can reduce the harm of radiation to the human body and have a significant protective effect on hematopoietic function. Clinical trials using tea tablets to treat mild radiation sickness caused by radiation have shown a total effective rate of up to 90%.
Third, it can help prevent and treat cataracts caused by smoking. Scientific research has found that smoking is becoming a major enemy to eye health and can induce cataracts. Compared to non-smokers, people who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day have twice the risk of developing cataracts. The more one smokes, the higher the risk of developing cataracts. Drinking more tea can prevent cataracts. It is believed that cataracts are caused by free radicals, produced by oxidation in the body, acting on the eye's lens. Metabolites with antioxidant effects, produced from the decomposition of tea polyphenols, can prevent the oxidation reactions in the body that generate free radicals.
In addition, the incidence of cataracts is closely related to the level and concentration of carotene in the human plasma. Cataract patients often have very low plasma carotene concentrations, and their incidence rate is 3 to 4 times higher than that of normal people. Tea contains much more carotene than most vegetables and fruits. Carotene not only helps prevent cataracts and protect the eyes, but also has anti-cancer, anti-nicotine, and smoke-detoxifying effects. For smokers, drinking tea is beneficial for protecting their vision.
Fourth, it can replenish the Vitamin C depleted by smoking. Tea is relatively rich in Vitamin C, especially green tea. Under normal conditions, the leaching rate of Vitamin C from tea can reach about 80%, and the Vitamin C in the tea infusion is rarely destroyed even at a temperature of 90°C. Smokers can get an adequate amount of Vitamin C by drinking tea, and by consistently drinking green tea, they can fully compensate for the Vitamin C deficiency caused by smoking, maintaining the dynamic balance of free radical production and elimination in the body and enhancing the body's resistance.