By now the school year is back in full swing. As hard as a lot of us try to stay organized and focused, sometimes it’s difficult to clear the fog of stress and daily life that often gets between us and our work.
It’s always been a part of popular folk wisdom that green tea can help cut through the haze of forgetfulness and improve memory, but in the past few years, scientists have been able to find tangible evidence for how it could do just that.
A study at University of Newcastle upon Tyne found that green and black tea can block certain enzymes associated with the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. By inhibiting two different enzymes, butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE), flavonoids in green and black tea were able to interrupt the creation of protein deposits in the brains of patients (a sign of Alzheimer’s).
Inhibiting the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is also pivotal to healthy memory function because, when unimpeded, it breaks down acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that plays a role in messages being relayed from one part of the brain to another. When levels of acetylcholine are low, memory fails. Patients who drank green and black tea were less likely to experience low levels of acetylcholine.
It’s important to note that there is no cure for Alzheimer’s Disease. However, studies like these open up possibilities for treatment that are holistic and, most importantly, cheap! Some current forms of treatment for Alzheimer’s treatment have really unpleasant side effects for patients, so finding an alternative that sidesteps that issue, while also promoting the overall health of patients, is a promising and exciting prospect. To learn more about tea and its effect on memory, click here and here.