The drink helps fight the effects of a high-fat, high-sugar diet.
Green tea may help protect against memory problems linked to a poor diet, new research finds.
It could also help brain insulin resistance and reduce obesity.
Dr Xuebo Liu, who led the study, said:
“Green tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and is grown in at least 30 countries.
The ancient habit of drinking green tea may be a more acceptable alternative to medicine when it comes to combatting obesity, insulin resistance, and memory impairment.”
The conclusions come from a study on mice.
It found that a catechin called EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) had beneficial effects on the brains of mice.
All were fed a high-fat diet, high-sugar diet analogous to that consumed in many Western countries.
Half, though, were given the EGCG, the active ingredient in green tea.
Those given the EGCG were better able to resist the deleterious effects of the high-sugar, high-fat diet.
They put on less weight and were less cognitively impaired.
Dr Thoru Pederson, Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal in which the study was published, said:
“Many reports, anecdotal and to some extent research-based, are now greatly strengthened by this more penetrating study.”
The study was published in the journal The FASEB Journal (Mi et al., 2017).
Image credit: Arthur
