Tea

When it comes to preventative effects of green tea on pneumonia, Japanese women appeared to benefit more than men in a recently concluded research program conducted by Ikue Watanabe and colleagues at Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine in Sendai, Japan reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Japanese women that drink five or more cups of green tea a day cut the risk by 47%, but Japanese men apparently do not derive the same benefit.

For Japanese women, drinking even small amounts of green tea appears to give considerable benefit. Consuming one cup or less of green tea daily appears to reduce the risk of dying from pneumonia by 41%

Researchers said that the findings "support the possibility" that green tea may contain elements that can destroy or inhibit the growth of viruses and other microorganisms. The study examined the connection between green tea consumption and the risks of dying from pneumonia in 19,079 men and 21,493 women with no history of cancer, stroke or heart attack between the ages of 40 to 79 years old, all of whom were National Health Insurance recipients in Japan, over a 12-year period. During this period, 406 participants died of pneumonia.

"Green tea may have an effect on pneumonia in women in other countries as well," Watanabe commented, adding that further study is required to determine if this is in fact the case and to ascertain what compounds, if any, actually work to lessen the risks.