YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR BRAIN THINKING

Want to Keep Your Memory? Drink THIS

Remember when you had a great memory? If you laughed at that, go make yourself a steaming mug of green tea.

In yet another scientific study touting the memory-preserving benefits of this traditional Japanese beverage, researchers from Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan have determined that people who regularly drink green tea may have a lesser risk of mental decline as they grow older, reports Reuters.

Led by Dr. Shinichi Kuriyama, this study of 1,003 Japanese men and women who were 70 or older found that the more green tea they drank, the lower their risk of cognitive impairment. Even when diet, smoking and exercise habits were included in the mix, green tea still had a protective function.

Why? The beverage contains certain compounds that protect brain cells from the ravages of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, which may explain why the Japanese have a markedly lower rate of dementia and Alzheimer's than is found in North America and Europe.

How much green tea do you need to drink to protect your memory? Two or more cups a day will do it. Drink that much and you slash your risk of cognitive impairment in half when compared to people who drink three cups or less a week. Men and women who average one cup per day fall somewhere in between, notes Reuters.

But a word of caution: The researchers warn that the study was observational and not a controlled experiment so they cannot demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship. It could be that healthier and more active individuals are more likely to drink green tea, a beverage that is typically consumed in Japan in social situations. Still, given the prevalence and burden of dementia, the researchers conclude that any benefit of drinking green tea could have a "considerable" public health impact, reports Reuters.

The study findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.