Researchers say drinking green tea may help protect your brain

BOSTON - Drinking green tea may be another way to protect your brain against cognitive loss.

Patients with Alzheimer's disease develop an accumulation of amyloid plaque in their brains, but it is still not completely clear what triggers this disease process, though reactivation of a herpes virus may play a role.

Researchers at Tufts University built brain tissue models of herpes-induced Alzheimer's disease and discovered that compounds in green tea and resveratrol, found in grapes and nuts, helped reduce plaque formation and protected neuron function.

We don't know for sure that simply drinking green tea or eating nuts and grapes will have a significant effect on brain health, but scientists will certainly continue to investigate.

Alzheimer's Disease

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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