"Our results offer the first evidence of positive contribution of tea drinking to brain structure, and suggest that drinking tea regularly has a protective effect against age-related decline in brain organization," explained team leader Assistant Professor Feng Lei, who is from the Department of Psychological Medicine at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.
The research team recruited 36 adults aged 60 and above, and gathered data about their health, lifestyle, and psychological well-being. The elderly participants also had to undergo neuropsychological tests and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of their brains. The research team found that individuals who consumed tea at least four times a week for about 25 years had brain regions that were interconnected in a more efficient way. The type of tea did not seem to matter and green tea, oolong tea, and black tea were equally effective.
"We have shown in our previous studies that tea drinkers had better cognitive function as compared to non-tea drinkers," added Lei. "Our current results relating to brain network indirectly support our previous findings by showing that the positive effects of regular tea drinking are the result of improved brain organization brought about by preventing disruption to interregional connections."
While this is great news for those of us who have been regular tea drinkers for 25 years, it is not clear what it means for the rest of us. Further research is needed to determine how short a time might produce similar results. In the meantime, what could it hurt to start?
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