Contents:
- Medical Video: 5 Ways to Fuel Your Brain | Tony Robbins
- Drinking green tea often helps improve brain function
- Drinking green tea can also improve the symptoms of Down syndrome
Medical Video: 5 Ways to Fuel Your Brain | Tony Robbins
Are you among those who often drink tea? Usually many people enjoy a cup of warm tea at breakfast or during a relaxing time in the afternoon. Sipping warm tea can indeed generate energy and relax the mind before or after starting an activity.
One type of tea that is a lot of favorite is green tea or green tea. Green tea is popular with people because it tastes unique and has many health benefits. Now, a new study published in the journal Psychopharmacology shows that one compound in green tea, known as EGCG, can improve brain function, especially memory ability.
Drinking green tea often helps improve brain function
Unlike other teas, green tea is made from leaves that are not oxidized, so it is rich in antioxidants. Previous research has linked tea with many health benefits such as reducing the risk of stroke, heart disease, and fighting prostate cancer.
Research conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Basel Hospital in Switzerland said that green tea could be used as a promising treatment tool in the management of cognitive diseases associated with neuropsychiatric disorders, such as dementia and Alzheimer's.
In this study, the researchers involved 12 healthy male respondents and asked them to drink soft drinks containing several grams of green tea extract before they solved tasks involving memory abilities.
Then, the researchers analyzed how the way green tea affects the brain activity of all respondents using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). As a result, it is known that there is increased connectivity between the right superior parietal lobule and the frontal cortex of the brain. Neural findings are also positively correlated with improving the performance of the participants' tasks.
Drinking green tea can also improve the symptoms of Down syndrome
In a recent study conducted by the Biological Systems Group at the Spanish Genome Coordination Center analyzed the potential of EGCG in tea compounds to improve Down syndrome symptoms in 87 people with the condition. The study was divided into two parts, one group was given a pill containing tea extract for one year, while the other group was given a placebo. All participants also received cognitive training.
As a result, those who took pills containing tea extract received good grades in visual memory tests, the ability to control responses and the ability to plan or count. MRI results also show an increase in connectivity between nerve cells and areas of the brain associated with language.
Even so, the researchers stressed that based on the results of this study it should be reviewed by involving a larger sample to find out whether the benefits of this tea are specific to Down syndrome or give a more general effect on brain disease.
The researchers also said that the participants drank soft drinks containing green tea extract, not pure green tea extract. This is done to avoid the caffeine component of pure green tea extract which might have an impact on their cognitive performance.
