A new study has found that green tea may be helpful in reducing the incidence of lung cancer among smokers.

A research team in Taiwan enrolled 170 patients with lung cancer and used approximately 340 healthy patients as controls for the study. The participants answered questions on demographic characteristics, cigarette smoking habits, green tea consumption, dietary intake of fruits and vegetables, cooking practices and family history of lung cancer. They also underwent genetic testing to determine whether they had a predisposed risk for the disease.

The findings suggest that among the smokers and non-smokers, those who did not drink green tea were more than five times as likely to develop lung cancer compared with those who drank at least one cup of green tea per day. Among smokers, those who did not drink green tea at all were more than 12 times as likely to develop the disease compared with those who drank at least one cup of the beverage every day.

"Tea, particularly green tea, has received a great deal of attention because tea polyphenols are strong antioxidants, and tea preparations have shown inhibitory activity against tumorigenesis," said the study’s lead author I-Hsin Lin.

In addition to lung and other cancers, smoking is associated with breathing issues, heart disease, infertility and dental problems.