Several studies point to the same link between everyday drinks and long-term brain health.
Drinking tea or coffee may reduce the risk of stroke and dementia by around one-third.
Dementia is a decline in brain function that commonly occurs with ageing and can affect overall health.
Symptoms include memory loss, problems with language and changes in mood.
A stroke occurs when blood flow to part of the brain is interrupted, potentially causing brain damage.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia.
The benefits of tea may come from the flavonoids it contains.
Flavonoids are antioxidants and part of the polyphenol class found in plants that are known to have several health benefits and to help prevent various diseases.
Other research has found that tea, berries and apples may all help reduce the risk of dementia.
That study found that older people who ate more flavonoid-rich foods had up to a fourfold lower risk of dementia.
Drinking tea has also been linked to better overall brain health.
People who drank tea at least four times a week for 25 years had better-connected brains, regardless of whether they preferred oolong, black or green tea.
Regular tea drinkers also tend to have better-organised brain networks.
Moderate consumption linked to lower risk
Chinese researchers used data from over 350,000 people in the Biobank project.
The Biobank is a long-term project that tracks the health and well-being of volunteers in the UK.
Health data for participants was tracked over at least 10 years, including their intake of tea and coffee.
The results showed that people drinking 2-3 cups of coffee or 3-5 cups of tea per day had the lowest risk of stroke or dementia.
This amount of tea lowered the risk of stroke by 32 percent and dementia by 28 percent.
The study’s authors write:
“Our findings suggested that moderate consumption of coffee and tea separately or in combination were associated with lower risk of stroke and dementia.”
Related
- 8 Everyday Eating Habits That Reduce Dementia Risk (P)
- 12 Proven Ways To Prevent Memory Loss As You Age (P)
The study was published in the journal PLoS Medicine (Zhang et al., 2021).
