If you don’t drink green tea, you might want to start. A study released by the International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease indicated that green tea is linked to lowering a person’s risk for dementia as well as a preventative decline in thinking and memory in older adults. The study examined tea and coffee habits of individuals who were older than 60. Individuals were then grouped by how much green tea each drank: none, one to six days a week, or every day. The conclusion: drinking green tea one to six days per week or everyday was linked to a decrease in mental decline. As for those who didn’t drink it, had lower scores on the thinking and memory test. Those individuals also performed less exercise — a factor that can influence cognitive ability.
How It Applies To You
The take-away message from this study: go ham in the gym and pound back the green tea. We already know that it‘s an antioxidant powerhouse that can boost your metabolism, increase fat oxidation, and up your endurance during exercise — the mental boost is just the icing on the cake. If the study holds true, you’ll thank yourself in the long run, especially if there’s a genetic history of dementia or Alzheimer’s. It’s also thought that the active ingredient, epigallocatechin gallage (EGCG), in green tea can reduce muscle soreness post-workout.
