Health updates: Green tea extract and Vitamin K2 for cancer

The following is new information regarding the effects of green tea as an energy expenditure and weight-loss aid, and vitamin K2’s effect on lowering the risk of cancer and cancer mortality.

Green tea extract more effective than thought

The potential of green tea, or EGCG specifically, to promote weight loss has been studied for some time now, and many of the findings are positive. Green tea can raise your energy expenditure, and may even help battle obesity, according to a new study. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a compound found in green tea, was shown to increase fat oxidation by 33 percent. This result comes from one of many studies that examined green tea’s potential in weight loss. EGCG has been shown to be a key component in many of these studies. It can help aid weight loss in a number of ways: by increasing metabolism and fat oxidation, inhibiting fat cell development or increasing fat excretion.

Could this ‘humble’ vitamin hinder future cancers?

People with the highest intakes of vitamin K2, not vitamin K1, may significantly lower their risk of cancer and cancer mortality, according to the results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. After analyzing data from more than 24,000 participants who were followed over 10 years, those who had the highest intakes of vitamin K2 were 14 percent less likely to develop cancer and 28 percent less likely to die of cancer, compared to those with the lowest intakes. A separate study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic also revealed impressive anti-cancer effects from vitamin K, which is sometimes referred to as the “forgotten” vitamin because it is often overshadowed by more well-known nutrients. Those with the highest dietary vitamin K intakes had a 45 percent lower risk of developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system, than those with the lowest intakes.

Sources: NutraIngredients April 9, 2010,  European Journal of Clinical Nutrition April 7, 2010 [Epub ahead of print], NutraIngredients March 30, 2010, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition May 2010, 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2010,  Science Daily April 19, 2010 and www.mercola.com.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 29, Number 4, Aug/Sept 2010.