Those great polyphenols have also been found to increase white blood
cells, the "soldiers" which fight infection in the human body. Tea
extract is one of the main ingredients in a medicine now widely used
with a high rate of success in China to counteract the reduction in
white blood cells which accompanies radiation therapy. The medicine
was developed by the Tea Research Institute in Hangzhou and other
Chinese institutions.
In
India too, researchers found that mice fed tea were less likely to
develop leukemia when exposed to radiation.
A
study of Jasmine tea by the Fujian Institute of Traditional Medicine
and Pharmacology (Fujian is a big producer of Jasmine tea) found
that tea heightened certain functions of the white blood cells in
mice. In a related area, Soviet researchers say that tea helps the
body excrete harmful radioactive strontium 90 before it settles in
the bones. Chinese sources say tea can help absorb strontium 90 even
after it has lodged in the bones. A mixture of black tea and the
plant viola inconspicuous achieved a 90% survival rate on animals
subjected to intense radiation.
