Vitamin B3 Could Help Green Tea Fight Alzheimer’s

There is abundant research highlighting the benefits of drinking green tea. From boosting brain function to reducing the risk of certain cancers, the evidence supporting your decision to enjoy another cup is everywhere. However, it turns out that there is a way to further enhance green tea’s benefits, and that is by adding one vitamin that, together, could help lower the risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease. 

In August, researchers from the University of California, Irvine, published their study in the journal GeroScience, exploring how aging brain cells gradually lose a critical energy supply and how a little help from green tea and vitamin B3 might improve the situation.

“As people age, their brains show a decline in neuronal energy levels, which limits the ability to remove unwanted proteins and damaged components,” Gregory Brewer, the lead author and adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at UC Irvine, shared in a statement. “We found that restoring energy levels helps neurons regain this critical cleanup function.”

To reach this conclusion, they explained that they used a “genetically encoded fluorescent sensor called GEVAL to track live guanosine triphosphate (GTP) levels in neurons from aged Alzheimer’s model mice.” They discovered that when GTP levels decrease, as they do with age, the entire system begins to stall, which over time can cause proteins like amyloid-beta — linked to Alzheimer’s — to accumulate inside cells. 

The team observed that treating aged neurons for only 24 hours with nicotinamide (a form of B3 vitamin) and epigallocatechin gallate, an antioxidant found in green tea, restored GTP levels were “restored to those typically seen in younger cells.” This triggered a positive domino effect, including improved brain energy metabolism and decreased oxidative stress. 

“This study highlights GTP as a previously underappreciated energy source driving vital brain functions,” Brewer said. “By supplementing the brain’s energy systems with compounds that are already available as dietary supplements, we may have a new path toward treating age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.”

But what’s perhaps most remarkable about these findings is their simplicity, as they involve ingredients that are widely available to people all over the world. However, Brewer noted that “more work is going to be required to find the best way to administer this treatment, since a recent clinical trial involving UC Irvine researchers showed that oral nicotinamide was not very effective because of inactivation in the bloodstream.”

There are, however, several other compelling recent studies demonstrating the power of food in combating dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. In June, Food & Wine covered The Scripps Research Institute’s findings from their study on a new compound called diAcCA, which they developed as an oral medication that could potentially help treat Alzheimer’s disease in the future. The researchers explained that the compound is derived from carnosic acid (CA), a natural antioxidant found in rosemary and sage, both of which are already known to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress—two factors closely linked to the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease.

 In January, Food & Wine also shared a study showing how eating breakfast regularly can protect your brain against age-related cognitive decline. Most recently, in July, we shared new research from scientists in Shanghai, China, showing how a machine learning–optimized diet may delay the onset of dementia or slow structural and pathological changes in the brain, giving us a good reason to sit down for breakfast with a nice cup of green tea.