According to a joint report on smoking by the World Health Organization, the UK's Imperial Cancer Research Fund, and the American Cancer Society, currently one person dies every 10 seconds worldwide from smoking-related diseases. Each year, at least 3.15 million people die from smoking globally, and this number is increasing. In China, the number of smokers has reached over 300 million, consuming more than 1.5 trillion cigarettes annually, accounting for over 30% of the world's total consumption. Seventy percent of middle-aged men in China smoke, and one person dies from smoking every minute. If the number of Chinese smokers continues to rise, it is estimated that five people will die from smoking every minute. For smokers, this is undoubtedly a warning signal.
From a health perspective, quitting smoking is imperative. For those who still find it difficult to quit, drinking tea is the best way to reduce the harm of smoking. Components in tea leaves, such as tea polyphenols and vitamin C, can degrade various harmful substances in cigarettes. Drinking tea while smoking helps continuously neutralize toxins, which are then excreted through feces. Smokers who regularly drink tea mainly enjoy four benefits:
1. Can Reduce the Likelihood of Smoking-Induced Cancer
Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemical substances, more than 50 of which are carcinogenic. Inhalation through the respiratory tract facilitates the spread of these carcinogens throughout the body. Long-term smoking can lead not only to lung cancer but also to various cancers such as esophageal, laryngeal, pancreatic, kidney, and bladder cancer. Smokers account for 80% to 99.5% of lung cancer patients. Researchers from the Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, USA, have elucidated the relationship between smoking and lung cancer at a molecular level, indicating that genetic mutations caused by smoking are the direct cause of tumors.
Drinking tea has anti-cancer effects. Tea polyphenols in tea can inhibit the release of free radicals and control the proliferation of cancer cells. Free radicals are harmful "waste" produced during respiration and metabolism, existing in almost every cell of the body, posing a significant hidden danger and "time bomb." Studies show that free radicals are also a major cause of genetic mutations and cancer. Normally, the body maintains a dynamic balance between the production and elimination of free radicals.
It is worth noting that cigarettes are free radical generators. It is estimated that each puff of smoke produces 10^17 free radicals. Smoking disrupts this dynamic balance. Excessive free radicals increase the risk of cancer. Catechins, the main components of tea polyphenols, are antioxidants and potent free radical inhibitors. They can inhibit tumor formation caused by smoking. Green tea polyphenols have a strong ability to scavenge free radicals, particularly superoxide anion radicals.
The Institute of Nutrition and Food Hygiene of the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, after studying 145 types of tea, confirmed that tea can indeed block the synthesis of nitrosamines in the human body. Yan Yusen from the Nanjing Zhongshan Cancer Research Institute found through experiments that tea polyphenols can bind with carcinogens, decompose them, reduce their carcinogenic activity, and inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Dorothy Mohr from Purdue University, who researches food and nutrition, said, "Our research shows that green tea is rich in anti-cancer substances at concentrations high enough to produce anti-cancer effects in the body." Dr. John Weisburger, honorary president of the American Health Foundation with 40 years of experience in cancer research, stated, "My research results indicate that if you drink six cups of tea a day, you can avoid cancer." Researchers from Columbia University's Harlem Medical Center also found that green tea has anti-cancer properties. Therefore, drinking tea can help smokers reduce the risk of cancer.
2. Can Reduce Radiation Pollution Caused by Smoking
According to Dr. Joseph DiFranza from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, a person who smokes 30 cigarettes a day receives radiation from radioactive substances in cigarettes equivalent to about 300 chest X-rays in one year. Drinking tea can effectively prevent radioactive substances from invading bone marrow and rapidly excrete strontium-90 and cobalt-60 from the body. Catechins and lipopolysaccharides in tea can reduce the harm of radiation to the human body and significantly protect hematopoietic function. Clinical trials using tea tablets to treat mild radiation sickness caused by radiation showed a total effectiveness rate of 90%.
3. Can Prevent Smoking-Induced Cataracts
Scientific research has found that smoking is becoming a major enemy of eye health and can promote cataracts. Researchers from Harvard Medical School discovered that compared to those who never smoke, people who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day are twice as likely to develop cataracts. The more one smokes, the greater the risk of cataracts. In China, 4% of unexplained blindness cases are attributed to smoking.
However, Canadian scientists found that drinking more tea can prevent cataracts. They believe cataracts are caused by free radicals generated from oxidation reactions in the body affecting the eye's lens. The metabolites produced by the breakdown of tea polyphenols, which have antioxidant effects, can prevent oxidation reactions that generate free radicals. Additionally, scientists from the USDA Nutrition and Aging Research Center recently discovered a close relationship between cataract incidence and the concentration of carotenoids in human blood plasma.
Cataract patients often have very low plasma carotenoid concentrations, with an incidence rate 3–4 times higher than normal. Tea contains much higher levels of carotenoids than most vegetables and fruits. Carotenoids not only prevent cataracts and protect eyes but also have anti-cancer, anti-nicotine, and detoxifying effects. Drinking tea is beneficial for smokers in protecting their vision.
4. Can Replenish Vitamin C Depleted by Smoking
Smoking causes vitamin C in human serum to combine with oxidative carcinogens in smoke, such as carbon monoxide, nitrosamines, nicotine, and formaldehyde, transforming them into non-toxic compounds or non-mutagenic substances excreted from the body. This significantly reduces vitamin C levels, leading to the accumulation of free radicals—the body's "waste"—posing hidden dangers and exacerbating damage to normal cells.
Inhaling harmful substances like nicotine increases the concentration of oxygen free radicals in cells. Oxygen free radicals can damage human cells and easily cause cancerous reactions. American researchers found that regularly supplementing with a certain dose of vitamin C can avoid this harm caused by smoking, as vitamin C has antioxidant effects that inhibit the generation of oxygen free radicals and protect human cells from damage.
Tea is rich in vitamin C, especially green tea. Under normal conditions, the leaching rate of vitamin C from tea can reach about 80%, and vitamin C in tea soup is rarely destroyed even at 90°C. Smokers can intake an appropriate amount of vitamin C by drinking tea, especially by consistently drinking green tea, which can fully compensate for the vitamin C deficiency caused by smoking, maintain the dynamic balance of free radical production and elimination in the body, and enhance resistance.
In summary, although drinking tea offers some benefits to smokers, this article does not encourage smoking. Nor should one smoke recklessly because drinking tea can mitigate some harms. On the contrary, the harm caused by smoking is immense and tragic for both individuals and society. Therefore, quitting smoking is the general trend and a wise choice. Drinking tea can only serve as a remedial measure during the quitting process to reduce the harm of smoking as much as possible. For your health, quitting smoking completely is the ultimate goal.
Tea counteracts tobacco toxins. Do you drink tea?
