It’s Good for Mice, but What Does it Mean for Me?

We regularly hear about scientific studies that trumpet breakthroughs and get people very excited about certain supplements. But often those studies are the results of testing in mice or rats which is the step that generally comes before studies in humans. So to make the leap from “it works in mice so it must work in humans” is just not sound. Take the example of green tea an anti-oxidant that’s been found in lab tests with mice to have beneficial effects against cancer. Dr. Marleen Meyers, a medical oncologist at NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center, says the metabolism of food in mice is very different than humans. She says the amount of green tea that we would need to consume to be comparable to the amount that the mice got, is not even possible. Bottom line: maintain a healthy dose of skepticism when you hear that any one supplement is a cure-all for cancer, or any ailment really.