A Cup Of Tea May Keep Dementia At Bay

After water, tea is the world’s most popular beverage. For centuries drinking tea has been recommended for its calming effect and to cure many ailments. Research evidence has shown that regular tea drinking can tame inflammation in the body, help to improve blood pressure, improve dental health and support healthy bones.

By Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN, Food & Nutrition Columnist - HealthNewsDigest.com
Mar 26, 2017 - 7:39:11 AM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - After water, tea is the world’s most popular beverage. For centuries drinking tea has been recommended for its calming effect and to cure many ailments. Research evidence has shown that regular tea drinking can tame inflammation in the body, help to improve blood pressure, improve dental health and support healthy bones. Because of the powerful collection of antioxidants in tea there has been much speculation and some research to show that regular tea drinking may protect the brain from decline.

A recent study done at the National University of Singapore followed the tea drinking habits of close to 1,000 older Chinese. The researchers concluded that regular tea drinking could reduce a person’s risk for dementia by close to 50% in later life. For those who carry the genetic risk for Alzheimer’s the risk could be reduce by as much as 86%. Women received a stronger benefit from regular tea drinking than men. Though this study was done on Chinese elderly there is no reason to believe that the results would not hold for other populations as well.

The protective role of tea on cognitive decline is due to the bioactive compounds found in tea leaves – catechins, theaflavins, thearubigins and L-theanine. All these compounds exhibit strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties which can protect the brain against vascular damage and degeneration leading to memory impairment. The study showed that any type of tea was protective – green, black, oolong or white.

All types of tea come from the same plant. They differ in how they are processed after harvesting. The leaves of black and oolong teas are left to ferment, while green and white are just dried. Fermentation changes the chemical composition of the tea leaves, so that each tea has a different amount of the various flavonoid compounds. Green tea has more catechins while black tea has more theaflavins and thearubigins.  All these compounds have similar chemical actions in the body so that the health benefits between the different types of tea overlap quite a bit. That is probably the reason the researchers found that it did not matter what type of tea a person drank as long as they drank it regularly.

The benefits of drinking tea can extend to other health issues as well. In a very large study done in France, those who drank tea daily reduced their risk for heart disease by 24% compared against those who regularly drank coffee. The anti-inflammatory effects come into play to protect tea drinkers who have less stiffness in their arteries and lower blood pressure than those who do not drink tea.

Did you know that except for fluoridated water, brewed tea is the next best food source of the mineral fluoride? And, a couple of cups of black tea each day can help to suppress the bacteria in your mouth that causes cavities and the buildup of plaque.

Freshly brewed hot tea contains the highest amount of flavonoid compounds, followed by decaf tea and ice tea. Ready-to-use teas have very few antioxidant flavonoid compounds. Simply squeezing a lemon wedge into your next cup of tea increases the levels of catechins.  But drink tea the British way, with added milk, and casein, the main protein in milk, inhibits some of the beneficial effects of catechins. All dried teas, if stored away from light, heat and moisture will last a long time, up to 2 years. Keep loose tea or teabags in an airtight container away from the sun, stove and sink.

Tea is readily available, inexpensive and has no side effects when used in moderation. Having a few cups of tea a day offers a simple preventive measure to support your health and protect your brain as you age.

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