Your Cup of Tea?

For inflammation to decrease,

And tumour progression to cease;

There might be a surprising key:

Just go and have a cup of tea.

 

Now even though it may seem strange,

Lifestyles can cause genetic change;

A simple way to make this be:

Just go and have a cup of tea.

 

Some genes that change by drinking cha,

Can regulate the way you are;

And if you don’t believe in me:

Just go and have a cup of tea.

 

But these changes only abound,

Where no X chromosomes are found;

Men cease your whining, let it be:

Just go and have a cup of tea.

 

The next stage is to find a link

That health can come from what we drink;

But even with no guarantee:

Just go and have a cup of tea.

This is a pantoum, inspired by recent research that investigates the epigenetic effects that drinking tea can have on women.

Epigenetic effects are chemical modifications that can cause certain genes and gene combinations to be turned on and off. It has long been known that environment and lifestyle factors such as smoking and exercise can result in epigenetic changes. Similarly, previous studies have indicated that drinking tea might be important in modulating disease, for example by decreasing inflammation, a process which can be further influenced by epigenetic change.

The results of this study (which was conducted using over 4,000 European participants) found that drinking tea brought about epigenetic change, but only in women. Some of these changes occurred in genes that are involved in cancer regulation. However, further research is needed to prove for certain that drinking tea results in epigenetic changes that have a proven benefit to health.

 

An audio version of the poem can be heard here.