Black, Green Tea May Slow Alzheimer's Disease

This past Thanksgiving I visited a good family friend who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. It's hard to watch our loved ones fade away, and finding that she didn't remember recent conversations was very heartbreaking. I talked to my grandmother, she is in her 80s, about how she stays so mentally sharp. She credits her healthy brain to having companions, keeping hobbies, and drinking her tea daily. That perked my interest and I decided to start researching the healthy benefits of tea for the brain.

According to WebMD, developing a taste for black or green tea may delay Alzheimer's disease.

A study from England's University of Newcastle upon Tyne shows that green and black teas may inhibit certain brain enzymes linked to Alzheimer's disease. The study's findings may lead to new therapeutic developments for dementia and Alzheimer's disease, which is estimated to affect 10 million people worldwide.

Coffee, in contrast, did not show any significant effects in the study.

Researchers including Edward Okello of the university's biology school found that tea stops the activity of chemicals in the brain associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease. Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease occur when brain nerve cells that process information and memory degenerate and die. Abnormalities such as plaque and tangles proteins form on nerve cells.

The first brain chemical, acetylcholinesterase (AchE), breaks down one of the brain's chemical messengers that helps transport and process information -- called acetylcholine. A drop in acetylcholine, in areas of the brain associated with memory and learning, has been linked to Alzheimer's disease. Medications used to treat Alzheimer's disease work by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase. Aricept, Exelon, and Reminyl are examples of these medications.

The teas also stopped the activity of other chemicals known to be key in making plaques and tangles in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. The second chemical is called butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). However, green tea also inhibited a third and final brain chemical called beta-secretase, which is also involved in brain protein deposits seen with Alzheimer's disease.

Don't let that alphabet soup of chemical names throw you off. Green tea counteracted all three chemicals. Black tea was also powerful in curbing the first two chemicals, but only green tea inhibited beta-secretase. The researchers also found that green tea continued to have its inhibitive effect for a week, whereas black tea's enzyme-inhibiting properties lasted for only one day.

The researchers don't know exactly how to explain tea's effects. In news reports, Okello says he knows of no evidence that Alzheimer's disease rates are lower in tea-drinking nations. Traditionally, green tea has been popular in Asian countries, while black tea is often associated with England.

The next step is identifying tea's key components. Tea isn't being proposed as the much-hoped-for cure for Alzheimer's disease; however, it might inspire new treatments to delay the disease if these findings are confirmed by more research.

Don't wait any longer. Sip, savor, and fight disease today. It's never too late to enjoy the many health benefits of tea!