Green tea has become a wonder plant in recent years, touted for everything from weight loss to anti-cancer properties to reducing the risk of heart disease. A new study suggests that the active ingredient, EGCG, may also protect the brain from Alzheimer's disease.
From the WebMD article:
In the study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers studied the effects of treating mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's disease with high doses of the green tea antioxidant.
After several months of daily injections of EGCG, the results showed that the nerve cells of treated mice generated as much as 54% fewer beta-amyloid protein than nontreated mice nerve cells.
"The findings suggest that a concentrated component of green tea can decrease brain beta-amyloid plaque formation," says researcher Jun Tan, PhD, MD, director of the Neuroimmunology Laboratory at the University of South Florida, in a news release. "If beta-amyloid pathology in this Alzheimer's mouse model is representative of Alzheimer's disease pathology in humans, EGCG dietary supplementation may be effective in preventing and treating the disease."
Based on the format of the study, it's likely that drinking green tea won't impart the same health benefits. However, there are now a variety of green tea extract supplements available that could provide enough ECGC to have a positive impact on brain health. The researchers believe that a 1,500 to 1,600 milligram dose of ECGC daily is needed to see benefits. This intake level has already been determined to be safe for humans.
WARNING: If you decide to take this much ECGC on a regular basis, please be aware that dehydration will be a risk. You will likely lose weight (mostly water) in the first few days. You will also feel jittery due to the caffeine still present in most green tea extracts on the market.
At this point, I would not recommend using the existing supplements at such a high dose due to the concerns I just raised. Use the supplements as directed. I suspect that within a year, pure ECGC supplements without the caffeine will be available.
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