Reduce Skin Cancer Risk with Black Tea

Black tea is made from the dried leaves of the Camellia evergreen shrub that is native to southeast Asia. Green tea and oolong tea also come from this plant. In 2007, Partmouth Medical School did a study and found that drinking at least two cups per day of black tea can cut the risk of skin cancer in half.

The tea has polyphenols that could protect the body against UV radiation. Tea has an antioxidant called catechins that can inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Both black tea and green tea has 10 times the amount of antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables. The antioxidants have a detoxifying effect that protects cells from free radicals. Free radicals can cause damage to cells that can cause blood clot formation, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Studies have shown that when tea extracts are applied to the skin, the risk of skin cancer due to sun damage is decreased.

Study Says Unpopular Girls Tend to Gain More Weight

It is found that unpopular girls and girls that are low on the social ladder are more likely to gain weight during their adolescent years. Harvard University researchers did a study on 4,500 junior high and high school girls and found that the girls who felt like they weren’t well liked gained more weight than the more popular girls. The unpopular girls were 70 percent more likely to gain more than 11 excess pounds over a two year period.

Sleeping is Essential to Learning

Research has shown that teenagers have internal body clocks and hormones that make it hard for them to fall asleep before 11 p.m. and hard for them to wake up before 8 a.m. Most high schools start classes around 7:30a.m., so students have to wake up very early. A National Sleep Foundation survey found that up to 28 percent of high school students fall asleep during their first class. A few high schools have recognized this issue and moved their starting times to around 8:30 a.m. When they did this, test scores and attendance increased.