Go green

From KABC Los Angeles:

Dr. Anna Wu examined the dietary habits of Asian American women. She found those who drank green tea exclusively showed the most benefit.

"They had about a 40 percent reduction in risk of breast cancer and these were women who were daily tea drinkers," Wu said.

Both green and black tea are made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, but black tea is fermented much longer than green tea, a process that destroys certain polyphenols. USC researchers say these specific tea compounds lower the estrogen levels in women's blood, while black tea elevates it. This is key because estrogen has been found to promote the growth of some breast cancers.

"In fact women who drank only black tea showed no reduction in risk," Wu said.