Over 50? How Green Tea Can Help
How Drinking Green Tea Can Assist with Age-Related Ailments
The latest research showing the health benefits of green tea for everything from rheumatoid arthritis to prostate cancer to dry mouth.
There has been a significant amount of research on the benefits of green tea, including how it can aid with many of the illnesses that come with age.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory form of arthritis causing severe joint pain and damage. It can develop at any age, but mostly affects women around age 55. A new study from the University of Michigan Health System suggests that an antioxidant chemical (also known as polyphenols) in green tea called epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG, may provide therapeutic benefits to people with rheumatoid arthritis. In the study researchers found that EGCG lowered, and in higher doses even prevented, the production of chemicals in the immune system that cause inflammation and joint damage in people with rheumatoid arthritis. While this preliminary research is encouraging, further tests still need to be conducted to determine the exact amount of green tea you need to consume to provide you with these benefits.
Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer found in American men. Although men of any age can get it, typically 8 out of 10 men diagnosed are over the age of 65. Drinking five or more cups of green tea a day may reduce the risk of developing advanced prostate cancer, according to a 2007 Japanese study of almost 50,000 men over a 15 year period. Their findings showed that the risks of having advanced prostate cancer was 50 percent lower for men who drank five or more cups of green tea a day compared with those who had less than one cup. The researchers felt that a polyphenol in green tea called catechin may be the factor as it appears to reduce testosterone levels, a known risk factor for prostate cancer.
Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, caused by the gradual loss of dopamine-producing brain cells that control movement. The median age of people getting the disease is 65. In a study published in the December 2007 issue of Biological Psychiatry, researchers discovered that the polyphenols in green tea can actually protect dopamine-producing brain cells, and this protection increases with the amount of green tea consumed. These tests were conducted on animals so further trials with humans still need to be held.
Memory Loss
About 40 percent of people aged 65 or older have some sort of age-associated memory loss. Researchers in India released a report in December 2007 showing the effect of green tea extract on the memory of older rats. Both old and young rats were given a dose of green tea extract for 8 weeks prior to undergoing a series of cognitive tests. The tests showed that both learning and memory behaviors had significantly improved in the older rats who had taken the green tea extract. Therefore, the feeling is that green tea may have the same effect in reversing age-related memory loss in humans.
Dry Mouth
Approximately 30 percent of elderly Americans suffer from dry mouth, which is a sign of Sjogren’s syndrome - an autoimmune disease. An April 2007 study by Medical College of Georgia researchers say that green tea may help protect against dry mouth. The researchers studied an animal model for primary Sjogren’s syndrome, in which the white blood cells mistakenly produce antibodies that attack, inflame and damage moisture producing glands, particularly the saliva glands. The researchers found that green tea significantly lowered the amount of lymphocytes – the white blood cells causing the inflammation of the glands – as well as reduced the damage to the glands.
Green tea does have a downside as it can conflict with certain medications including aspirin. Like anything, you should consult your doctor first before starting to drink green tea.
