This archive report was first published on 16 September 2019.
Researchers at the National University of Singapore, in collaboration with the University of Essex and the University of Cambridge, have made a groundbreaking discovery about the effects of tea on brain health.
Published in the Journal Aging on September 16, 2019, the study investigated the direct effect of tea on brain networks and found that regular tea drinkers have better-organized brain regions and healthy cognitive function compared to non-tea drinkers.
The research involved 36 older participants who underwent neuropsychological tests and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) between 2015 and 2018. The participants who consumed either green tea, oolong tea, or black tea at least four times a week for about 25 years had brain regions that were interconnected in a more efficient way.
According to Assistant Professor Feng Lei, the team leader, "Our results offer the first evidence of the positive contribution of tea drinking to the brain structure, and suggest that drinking tea regularly has a protective effect against age-related decline in brain organisation."
Previous Research ¶
Previous studies have shown that tea intake benefits human health in various ways, including mood improvement and cardiovascular disease prevention. Another study found that daily consumption of tea can reduce the risk of cognitive decline in older persons by 50%.
