America's baby-boomers hoisting tea cup, collaring better health
By Perry Luckett, CoffeeMan1
Last year in August, I wrote a blog post about the benefits of green tea for those who must limit caffeine intake (https://www.koffeekompanions.com/blog-cozycomments/852017-1). More recently, we’ve found aging baby-boomers have a growing enthusiasm for all kinds of tea, largely because of its health benefits. Tea contains less caffeine than coffee, and the industry touts studies that suggest it can help with heart problems, blood pressure, and even cancer. One area of health that has attracted particular attention from the baby-boom generation is memory and cognition. Another is the overall possibility that tea may retard aging.
Improve cognition and memory with a cuppa; collar tea’s benefits
A 2016 study found that drinking tea boosts mental clarity and focus. Researchers at Peking University divided a group of 50 students in half, giving 25 a cup of tea and the other half a glass of water before collaring results with two cognitive tests. In the first, the students had to make an “attractive and creative” design using building blocks. In the second, they were to come up with a “cool” name for a ramen noodle restaurant. The judges were other students. In the block building test, the tea drinkers scored 6.54 points against 6.03 points for the water drinkers. In the name test, the tea drinkers scored 4.11 against 3.78.
Reporting in the journal Food Quality and Preference, the researchers hailed these effects from a cup of tea as evidence for a new way to collar the relationship between consuming food and beverages and improving human cognition. They point out: "Two biological ingredients, caffeine and theanine, have beneficial effects on attention, which is an indispensable part of cognitive function.” Of course, the limited sample size and amount of tea consumed call for further research.
Theanine and caffeine in your cup also collar effects of aging
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Kunming Institute of Botany experimented with Caenorhabditis elegans, or round worms, a species whose aging process is similar to that of humans. They injected these worms with the polyphenol chlorogenic acid (CGA), a chemical present in caffeine and plentiful in tea, coffee, and honeysuckle. It’s also found in prunes, potatoes, and eggplant. CGA is thought to help prolong life.
The research team found worms that received the CGA lived as much as 20.1% longer than those that didn’t. The worms also appeared healthier than the others, with delayed age-related decline of body movement and improved stress resistance. The researchers concluded CGA helps develop the immune system to fight bacteria. They hope their research, published in the May 16 edition of The Journals of Gerontology Series A, will help scientists develop food additives and drugs that could influence the aging process.
So try a special diet if you want to think better and age less
I don’t know if this will be good or bad news—it depends on your taste. If you want to improve memory and live longer, you should do this at least a couple times a week:
- Put black or green tea in your cup
- Collar some potatoes (Au gratin or baked)
- Add a helping of eggplant and a dash of prunes
- Top your teacup with a Kup Kap to keep it hot
Mmmm, prunes. Well, they’re pretty good if you have them in cakes, or muffins, or with dates, or . . . just about any way but straight.
Have questions or more information about tea and cognition, memory, or aging? Please share them in the Comments section below.
Resources:
America's baby-boomers are embracing tea for its health benefits. July 6, 2006. https://www.economist.com/node/7142123?zid=293&ah=e50f636873b42369614615ba3c16df4a
Sam Molineaux, Good news for tea drinkers: Caffeine key to longer life. July 26, 2016. http://worldteanews.com/news/caffeine-key-to-longer-life?NL=WTM-001&Issue=WTM-001_20160726_WTM-001_6&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_
Matthew Diebel, A nice cup of tea makes you more creative, study finds. March 7, 2018. USA TODAY https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2018/03/07/nice-cup-tea-makes-you-more-creative-study-finds/402727002/