Lifesaving tea

By drinking just one cup a day of green or black tea, women may be able to lower their risk of ovarian cancer by 24 percent. By drinking at least two cups, the risk appears to drop by 48 percent. That's the finding of Swedish researchers who studied the tea-drinking habits of more than 60,000 women over a 15-year period.

Scientists have long believed that tea helps women ward off cancer, but this study, published in the December 26, 2005 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, is the first to look at the effect on ovarian cancer specifically. The researchers have not determined why tea has such a beneficial impact or whether black or green tea is more effective. Regardless, the "advice to women is to increase the consumption of tea," says lead researcher Susanna Larsson of Stockholm's National Institute of Environmental Medicine. "There are no harmful side effects."