Whether you drink earl grey tea over the morning paper, green tea to energize your day, or chamomile tea to help you fall asleep, you may be doing a great service for your brain.
A new study from the National University of Singapore found a cup of tea a day can keep dementia away, especially for those who are genetically predisposed to the debilitating disease.
The longitudinal study was performed over 7 years involving 957 Chinese seniors aged 55 years or older.
Information on lifestyles, medical conditions, physical and social activities were also collected.
Those potential confounding factors were carefully controlled in statistical models to ensure an accurate study.
The researchers found that regular drinking of tea lowers the risk of cognitive decline in the elderly by 50%. [R]
More so, drinkers who were genetically predisposed to developing Alzheimer’s disease may experience a reduction in cognitive impairment risk by as much as 86%.
Along with these groundbreaking statistics, the research also noted that it didn’t matter the type of tea consumed, as long as the tea is brewed from leaves like green or black tea.
All Around Brain Protection
“While the study was conducted on Chinese elderly, the results could apply to other races as well. Our findings have important implications for dementia prevention.”
“Despite high quality drug trials, effective pharmacological therapy for neurocognitive disorders such as dementia remains elusive and current prevention strategies are far from satisfactory” , explained lead researcher Prof Feng Lei.
“Tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. The data from our study suggests that a simple and inexpensive lifestyle measure such as daily tea drinking can reduce a person’s risk of developing neurocognitive disorders in late life,” he added.
Lei and his team believe these health benefits come from teas bioactive compounds such as catechins, theaflavins thearubigins, and l-theanine.
Each of these compounds in tea exhibit potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects that protect the brain from vascular damage and neurodegeneration.
And that’s all just from a single cup of tea a day!
If you already drink tea, then you should feel very good about this healthy habit.
If you’re not currently a tea drinker, do these new findings spark any interest in starting?
Whether you already drink tea or not, we would love to know your thoughts by leaving a comment in the comments section below.
I love sweet tea