Summary :
To begin with, this drink has been found to improve cognitive functioning; one study shows that it promotes better working memory, the type of memory we use on a daily basis.
Researchers at the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland, found that healthy people who agreed to consume a soft drink containing 27.5 grams of green tea extract showed more intense activity in areas of the brain linked to working memory.
Therefore, participants who ingested the green tea extract showed better connectivity between the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain, which are two regions involved in aspects of learning, memory processes and decision-making. .
The health benefits of green tea are linked to its safe source content of polyphenol, which are micronutrients with antioxidant properties. As antioxidants, these substances can protect against the action of free radicals, which induce the type of cellular damage corresponding to aging.
A 2017 study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society found that one of these polyphenols found in green tea - called epigallocatechin gallate - may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease by interacting with the "blocks of construction" which form beta-amyloid plaques.
An accumulation of these plaques in the brain is typical of this disease and impairs brain cell signaling. According to this study, epigallocatechin gallate may prevent the formation of beta-amyloid plaques, which could help ward off Alzheimer's disease.
This same polyphenol in green tea is also said to slow the growth of tumor cells in certain types of cancer, such as pancreatic cancer.
Research conducted by the Biomedical Research Institute in Los Angeles, California, has shown that epigallocatechin gallate can disrupt the metabolism of pancreatic cancer cells, hindering their growth.