DRINK more tea to protect your memory as you age, scientists say.
Two cups of builder’s brew a day could be enough to stave off the normal decline in brain power, a study found.
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Naturally occurring chemicals in the drink called flavanols — which are also found in apples and berries — appear to help the organ.
Researchers said upping how much you have of the chemicals if you are deficient could reduce memory loss.
Professor Gunter Kuhnle, of the University of Reading, said: “The easiest way to achieve this is with tea. Two cups of tea will provide enough for many people.
“If you do drink tea, it doesn’t really matter if you want to have milk — it does not affect the uptake of flavanols.”
Cognitive ageing happens naturally as you get older and affects the brain differently to dementia.
Previous smaller trials have linked flavanols to protecting against losing brain power in old age.
The latest research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at how flavanols affected the memory of more than 3,500 healthy over-60s.
Their memory was tested with word recall tasks at the start of the study and throughout to see how it changed over time.
One group was given 500mg of flavanols — the same amount as two cups of tea — each day and another was given a placebo.
Those with the lowest flavonol intake at the start of the study saw their memory scores increase 16 per cent over the three years after being given the supplement.
Compared to the placebo group their memory scores increased by 10.5 per cent.
Dr Scott Small, of the University of Columbia, said: “Age-related memory decline is thought to occur sooner or later in nearly everyone, though there is a great amount of variability.
“If this variance is due to differences in flavanols consumption, then we would see an even more dramatic improvement in people who replenish flavanols in their 40s and 50s.”
Independent experts said the results show eating more foods with flavanols could help protect the brain as you age.
Professor Tara Spires-Jones, of the University of Edinburgh, said: “In a subset of people who had low diet quality and flavanol consumption at baseline, there was a benefit to memory.
“Other studies have found that flavanols may be protecting the brain through boosting formation of synapses, the connections between neurons.”