Vanguard Neurologist

It seems that hardly a day does by that we don’t hear about some new health benefit associated with drinking green tea. Whether it’s cancer prevention, boosting immunity, raising alertness, or even treating the common cold, it seems like there’s no end to the virtues of this centuries old practice. Many of the benefits of drinking green tea are thought to be associated with it’s high content of flavonoids, plant derived antioxidants that may be responsible for the extensive scientific support relating green tea consumption to decreased risk for cancer as well as heart attacks.

One particular flavonoid, EGCG, not only serves as a powerful antioxidant, but in addition has been shown to reduce the formation of amyloid plaque, a brain damaging protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease. In research recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience, investigators found that brain cells from mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer’s disease produced 54% less amyloid plaque when treated with EGCG. The ability of EGCG to reduce this damaging protein as well as the powerful antioxidant activity of this chemical found in green tea led the researchers to speculate that green tea could be effective not only in treating the disease, but also in preventing it in the first place.

Green tea may contain as much as 450 mg ECGC per cup. To replicate the EGCG consumption in this study, a person would need to drink about 4 cups a day. Fortunately, this healthful beverage is now available without caffeine.