Drinking green tea every day appears significantly beneficial in the health domain. Apart from lowering risk of prostate cancer as well as breast cancer, this beverage may also protect the brain. According to a recent research, consuming green tea on a regular basis helps keep Alzheimer’s, cancer and other forms of dementia at bay.
At the time of the research, scientists designed a technology that allegedly simulates the human digestive system. Then the protective properties of the digestion products were thoroughly assessed. The compounds hydrogen peroxide and a protein known as beta-amyloid are apparently involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Investigations have asserted that the compounds polyphenols present in black as well as green tea are equipped with neuroprotective properties such as binding with the toxic compounds and guarding the brain cells.
Dr. Ed Okello based in the School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development at Newcastle University and executive director of the university’s Medicinal Plant Research Group, shared, “What was really exciting about this study was that we found when green tea is digested by enzymes in the gut, the resulting chemicals are actually more effective against key triggers of Alzheimer’s development than the undigested form of the tea. In addition to this, we also found the digested compounds had anti-cancer properties, significantly slowing down the growth of the tumor cells which we were using in our experiments.”
On ingestion, the polyphenols probably break down to produce a mix of compounds that are beneficial for health. While conducting experiments in the lab on a tumor cell model, the cells were exposed to varying concentrations of the different toxins and the digested green tea compounds. The digested chemicals supposedly protected the cells, restricting the toxins from destroying the cells. Further investigations will be undertaken to figure out the beneficial compounds produced during digestion after consumption of tea polyphenols.
The research is published in the academic journal Phytomedicine.