Over six million Americans are living with dementia, a brain disorder that claims more than 100,000 lives every year. The prevalence of U.S. dementia cases is expected to double by 2026, according to a Nature Medicine study published earlier this year. By the numbers, that means 42 percent, or two in five Americans ages 55 and older, will have some form of the neurodegenerative disease. And in adults over the age of 74, those odds increase to 50 percent.
Moreover, women and Black adults are considered to have a “substantially” higher dementia risk, as well as those who carry the gene variant APOE4, which is “the strongest risk factor gene for Alzheimer’s disease,” explains the National Institute on Aging (NIA).
There is no known cure for dementia, although there are lifestyle modifications you can make to help lower your risk. Some of these include getting routine exercise, adhering to a well-balanced diet, managing stress levels, prioritizing sleep, avoiding smoking and excessive drinking, and even staying social.
More recently, green tea has been touted by medical professionals for its brain health benefits
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For instance, research findings presented in the journal BMC Geriatrics found that high-frequency green tea consumption (defined as drinking green tea at least one to three times per week) was “significantly associated with a lower prevalence of cognitive impairment in middle-aged and older individuals.”
In another paper, researchers studied 8,766 brain scans and compared the different neurological effects of green tea versus coffee. For the purpose of this experiment, they only worked with participants aged 65 and up. Their findings were published in the journal Nature.
“This cross-sectional study found a significant association between lower cerebral white matter lesions and higher green tea consumption, but not coffee consumption, in older adults without dementia, even after adjusting for confounding factors,” wrote the authors.
By the numbers, the brain scans of individuals who drank three cups of green tea per day showed three percent fewer white matter lesions, compared to once-daily green tea drinkers. Furthermore, drinking seven or eight cups per day was associated with six percent fewer lesions.
White matter refers to the “nerve fibers in your brain that connect different areas of your brain to each other and to your spinal cord like highways,” explains Cleveland Clinic. Lesions form where there’s damage to these nerve fibers, which can “damage important pathways,” and subsequently, trigger memory, mobility, and balance issues. On a brain scan, lesions appear as “bright spots.”
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Green tea is also considered a longevity superagent. A study previously cited by Best Life found that “tea connoisseurs over the age of 50 can increase their longevity by 1.26 years. These results were more prominent among men who drank green tea.”
As a superfood, green tea has also been linked to improved gut health, reduced liver inflammation, weight loss, and reduced hypertension.
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