Choose Tea As Your Ally Against Skin Cancer

It was a great summer. What fun it was ripping and running on the beach. It was perfect and memorable, but you definitely spent too much time in the sun. Even though you use the best and most doctor recommended SPF protection there is on the market you're still not at peace about being in the sun. In fact you're a bit paranoid about it. You keep having that little nagging thought, the one about your family's skin cancer historical track record. You're not that naïve. It really could happen to you. Are you in search of more ways to protect yourself against skin cancer? Believe it or not drinking tea could give you that extra edge of protection against skin cancer.

That's right. Specific teas can actually provide an armor-like protection for your skin. They act as a barrier against the sun's harmful rays that commonly occur during overexposure, which can destroy the cells that promote skin health. When skin cells are destroyed they automatically affect the general overall health of the skin. Those powerful rays can literally break down defenses that not only protect the skin from cancer causing substances and environmental toxins but also weaken the remaining cell's ability to keep the skin supple and youthful. It just about puts the skin's safeguard operations at a stand still so serious is this breakdown and destruction of cells. That would explain why you see some 30, 40 and 50-year-old women sporting more wrinkles than they should. The Overexposure to the sun undoubtedly has a high and unrecoverable cost. Here's a strong warning to young women.

Tea, black and green teas specifically have been studied for their effectiveness in skin protection and were surprisingly found to be quite the avant-garde when it comes to being a barrier against skin cancer. If you have a preference of one tea over the other, know that although both are powerful, some different tests have shown that black tea packs a bigger punch to the cancer enemy we're trying to fight against. Black tea has many more antioxidants than green, but drink them both for varied good protection. Educate yourself about the different teas because they are not all the same in their benefits. In another study teas containing bergamot oil, such as the popular Earl Grey tea, instead of protecting the skin were found to make the skin more susceptible to the sun's damaging rays. That's quite a disappointment to Earl Grey tea lovers, but far better to know this than not.

Another surprising protection afforded by the tea is in the temperature and the strength at which it is enjoyed. If you drink it very hot and very strong, you are helping yourself to some lower chances of developing skin cancer. And make sure it has some caffeine in it. Apparently tests show that caffeine is an important ingredient in tea as a protective ally against the sun. Teas tested without caffeine had no measurable protective effect at all. Caffeine or no caffeine; you will have to decide. You know the odds.

Here's one last helpful tip you might find interesting. Don't waste that tea at the bottom of the cup. Why? It has also been found to be effective if you rub it on your skin. No joking here. Green tea especially is increasingly being added to many skin care product formulations because it really does provide a safeguard to your skin. There you have it, another out of the ordinary but powerful ally against skin cancer.

About the Author/Author Bio

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Skin Cancer

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