Green Tea Helps Fight Cancer in Dogs

The amazing antioxidant properties of green tea have been known for years. Health gurus and holistic healing enthusiasts tout the benefits of the daily consumption of green tea for humans – but what about our beloved canine companions?

Recent scientific research has proven that green tea can have as many health benefits for dogs as it does for humans.

The daily ingestion of green tea by dogs diagnosed with cancer might be a useful tool in fighting the disease’s symptoms, ultimately extending the lifespan of the formerly ailing pups.

Don’t believe it? In a scientific study, a Labrador with lymphoma (a type of cancer) was given green tea every day as a means of treatment. In less than one year, he was diagnosed to be free from all of his previous symptoms.

Sin H. Lee, MD, Kee H. Hau, MD and Jeffrey K. Schpero, DVM, presented this case report at an American Cancer Society event in 2002. The 7-year-old male Labrador’s owner chose to treat his pup with a daily oral dose of green tea extract along with 40 mg of prednisone (a corticosteroid drug) once a day. After beginning this treatment, the general condition of the Lab improved rapidly. His appetite returned, and his enlarged lymph nodes (a symptom of his lymphoma) had shrunk back to their normal size.

As the Lab’s health was restored, he was gradually weaned off the prednisone, but his owner continued to give him the green tea extract every day. Fifty weeks after the Lab was initially diagnosed with cancer, he was completely symptom free.

In the words of the doctors who completed the study, “A general remission was successfully induced by a combination of green tea and prednisone and maintained by daily tea extract.”

The standard treatment for canine lymphoma involves chemotherapy, which has very serious and toxic side effects that can seriously impact a dog’s quality of life. Many pet parents are so concerned about chemotherapy’s impact that they choose to euthanize their cancer-stricken pups instead of putting them through the traumatic ordeal.

The doctors behind the green tea study believe that their findings will provide a potential alternative to pet parents having to make such a painful decision. Their green tea treatment was successful in achieving complete clinical remission of the cancer, and did so without ever putting the Lab through the toxic side effects usually associated with chemotherapy.

What Makes Green Tea So Beneficial?

The healthful components of green tea come from its catechins. These are flavonoid phytochemical compounds in green tea that have an antioxidant effect on the body – both yours and your dog’s. One very beneficial type of catechin is EGCg (epigallocatechin gallate). Current research has shown EGCg to be as much as 100 times more potent than vitamin C and 25 times more potent than vitamin E in antioxidant power. That’s a lot of power in a little capsule of green tea!

Perhaps most importantly, EGCg is known for its cancer-fighting properties. Scientific studies have shown that EGCg and related green tea catechins inhibit the growth of many types of tumor cells in vitro. Scientists speculate that EGCg helps stop the growth of tumors as well as the spreading of tumors, giving it the unique ability to fight cancer at all stages.

The Benefits of i Love Dogs Green Tea

At i Love Dogs, we know how critical green tea is to maintaining your dog’s heath, so we make an antioxidant-rich pure Green Tea supplement. Green tea is also a key ingredient in all of our premium canine vitamins and supplements.

In the scientific study on canine lymphoma, the Lab was given a green tea extract that contained at least 7 percent EGCg. The green tea in i Love Dogs vitamins and supplements contains at least 37 percent EGCg. The green tea in all of our supplements is decaffeinated, so your dog gets all the health benefits of green tea without the adverse effects of caffeine.

Every i Love Dogs Green Tea tablet for small dogs (less than 20 pounds) contains 125 mg of decaffeinated green tea extract; tablets for medium-sized dogs (20 to 40 pounds) contain 250 mg; and tablets for large dogs (40 pounds or more) contain 500 mg. These amounts are substantially more than any other canine green-tea product on the market.

Our green tea supplements are the best of the best, and they offer immense health benefits and protection to your dog.

Click here to order i Love Dogs Green Tea today.

i Love Dogs, Inc.

i Love Dogs, Inc.’s three websites – ilovedogs.com, ilovedogfriendly.com and findavet.us – provide information and up-to-the-minute news to keep pet parents aware of all things dog. A premium canine vitamins and lifestyle company, i Love Dogs is famous for its line of diamond dog collars. The name says it all — at i Love Dogs, we are committed to the health and happiness of our canine companions.