Study: Green tea improves memory, combats obesity

Regular drinking of green tea could improve memory, thinking and learning abilities, says a study published online in the FASEB journal.

According to the study, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a biologically active component in green tea, does the work.

The chemical is said to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and heart protection properties that also protects against diabetes and obesity.

To make the determination, researchers at Northwest A&F University, China, divided 3-month-old male mice into three groups based on diet.

The control group was fed with a standard diet, another group was fed with an HFFD diet, and the third group was fed with an HFFD diet and 2 grams of EGCG per liter of drinking water.

For 16 weeks, researchers monitored the mice and found that those fed with HFFD had a higher final body weight than the control mice, and a significantly higher final body weight than the HFFD+EGCG mice.

After the experiments, they also found that EGCG could improve HFFD-induced memory impairment.

“Green tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and is grown in at least 30 countries,” said Xuebo Liu, a researcher at the college of food science and engineering, Northwest A&F University, in Yangling, China.

“The ancient habit of drinking green tea may be a more acceptable alternative to medicine when it comes to combating obesity, insulin resistance, and memory impairment.”