Tea Drinkers Have Healthier Brains, Study Says

Starting the day with a cup of tea in India is pretty much ritual. As the evening rolls in it’s time for another cuppa. And as soon as the monsoon hits the country, chai and freshly fried bhajiyas become the staple evening snack. It’s safe to say that Indians love their tea. From drinking fancy Kahwa from Kashmir to drinking a cutting chai at a local tapri, tea is savoured all over the country. But it’s not just India that loves its tea. The Englishmen can’t do without their brew and the Japanese have elaborate tea ceremonies like no other. You would think of it as a regular (but life-giving beverage but there’s so much more to it. According to a recent study carried out by the National University of Singapore (NUS), tea drinkers tend to have healthier brains than people who don’t drink tea.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3tx-8jFUI-/

The Key To A Healthy Brain Is Tea

“Our results offer the first evidence of the positive contribution of tea drinking to the brain structure, and suggest that drinking tea regularly has a protective effect against age-related decline in brain organization,” was what, Feng Lei, assistant professor in the psychological medicine department at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore had to say.

Also Read: Cha Bar Located In Delhi’s Oxford Bookstore Serves 150 Different Varieties Of Teas

This is not the first time that this result has come to light. History bears a solid witness to the benefits of tea. There’s a different brew for every condition. Tea also serves as a mood-lifter and also helps in preventing cardiovascular diseases. Coming to how they came to this conclusion. The research team at NUS gathered 36 adults who were aged 60 and above and pored through their data regarding their physical and psychological health as well as their lifestyle. The three-year-long test saw the participants going through an MRI along with neuropsychological tests.

After analysing the tests, researchers saw that people who consumed black tea, oolong tea and green tea at least four times a week for as long as 25 years had better cognitive functions. Their brain regions were also interconnected better.

“Take the analogy of road traffic as an example—consider brain regions as destinations, while the connections between brain regions are roads. When a road system is better organized, the movement of vehicles and passengers is more efficient and uses fewer resources. Similarly, when the connections between brain regions are more structured, information processing can be performed more efficiently,” said Feng.

If you have been meaning to switch to coffee or another beverage, this study might come handy and you might just reconsider your decision. And remember, next time, drink the tea and don’t go around spilling the tea.