Can green tea enhance intelligence and cure diseases?

All the images that come to mind when it comes to green tea are associated with calmness, purity and relaxation. This ancient drink has been used for many centuries in Chinese medicine to heal people from a wide variety of ailments. However, green tea and its extracts recently attracted the attention of scientists. Throughout the world, research teams have tested green tea, extracts and its constituents to check whether this drink is really able to help in the treatment of various diseases, such as cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and even Alzheimer's. At the moment, evidence that tea actually helps in these cases, almost does not exist, and those that are available, often are inconclusive. However, recent studies have revealed that one particular component of green tea, epigallocatechin gallate, can improve the functioning of one human organ - the brain.

Improve the work of the brain

Many people use green tea extracts in one form or another, so scientists were interested in what effect they can have, in particular, on the human brain. In a study conducted in 2014, a group of scientists conducted an experiment: twelve healthy volunteers took an extract of green tea, after which they underwent brain scanning to check the effect on certain areas of the brain. Each volunteer received a drink that contained a green tea extract similar to one or two cups of the beverage itself. But for the purity of the experiment, volunteers used drinks through the nose, so that the tongue could not feel if the solution contained green tea extract, or not.

The effect of green tea on healthy people

After the drink was used by volunteers on a weekly basis four times, scientists were able to notice improvements in the functionality of the brain area responsible for memory. From this, it was concluded that the use of green tea improves memory in healthy people. Naturally, it is worth paying attention to the fact that the scale of this study was extremely small, but even thus it is impossible to deny the positive results obtained during the experiment. Considering the fact that green tea is a much more natural form of medicine, people will gladly turn to its use. After all, he can actually cure diseases.

Cognitive effect of green tea

Since the time this study was conducted, interest in the useful cognitive properties of green tea has increased significantly. In addition, attention was focused on treating the symptoms of certain neurological or psychiatric diseases. In the brain, plastic changes can be made, and they can be used to target their effects on reducing the symptoms of diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's. Of particular interest is Down syndrome. Most people believe that there is no hope, and this disease can not be cured due to its complexity. However, they may be wrong.

Treatment of Down Syndrome Symptoms

In a recent study, a team of scientists analyzed the potential ability of epigallocatechin gallate to treat symptoms of Down syndrome in 87 people. Half of them received for 12 months the tablets containing the given ingredient of green tea, while the second half was given a placebo. All participants also underwent cognitive training. Those people who received epigallocatechin gallate showed the best results in tests for visual memory, on the ability to control different types of response, and on the possibility of planning and calculating. Scanning the brain showed improved connections between nerve cells. Improvements have also been seen in that part of the brain that is responsible for learning and understanding languages. This demonstrated that people actually can target the symptoms of Down's syndrome from a pharmacological point of view. It is also worth noting that in some patients the effect of this drug lasted an additional six months after the completion of the experiment.

This is not a cure for Down syndrome!

This study proves that the green tea extract can be used to obtain positive and beneficial effects. Now it is necessary to find out whether this effect is specific for Down's syndrome, or whether the remedy is able to influence other diseases related to the brain. Separately, it should be emphasized that green tea is in no way a cure for Down syndrome, because all the neurological changes caused by this syndrome are irreversible. Scientists have proved only the fact that it is possible to improve the functionality of people who are diagnosed with this diagnosis.