Could Regular Tea Consumption Reduce the Risk of Neurocognitive Decline?

Tea consumption was associated with a reduced risk for neurocognitive decline, according to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging December 2016 issue.

The population-based longitudinal study conducted by researchers at the University of Singapore examined the relationship between tea consumption and incidence of neurocognitive disorders (NCD) in 957 community-living Chinese elderly men and women who were cognitively healthy at baseline. Information on participants’ tea consumption habits from 2003 to 2005 was collected at baseline, and cases of neurocognitive disorders from 2006 to 2010 were recorded. 
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Over the course of the study, 72 incident cases of NCD were identified.

The researchers found that tea intake was associated with a lower risk of NCD in participants. This association was independent of other risk factors. Reductions were related to both green tea consumption (Odds ratio [OR]=0.43) and black/oolong tea consumption (OR=0.53).

This relationship appeared to be influenced by the consistency of tea consumption, as only consistent tea consumers had reduced risk of NCD (OR=0.39) when consistent nontea drinkers were used as the reference. 

In stratified analyses, tea consumption was associated with reduced risk of NCD in women (OR=0.32) and apolipoprotein E4 carriers (OR=0.14), but was not associated with a reduced risk in men or non-apolipoprotein E4 carriers.

“Regular tea consumption was associated with lower risk of neurocognitive disorders among Chinese elderly. Gender and genetic factors could possibly modulate this association,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Feng L, Chong MS, Lim WS, et al. Tea consumption reduces the incidence of neurocognitive disorders: Findings from the Singapore longitudinal aging study. Nutr Health Aging. 2016;20 (10): 1002-1009. doi:10.1007/s12603-016-0687-0.