Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world, not to mention one of the world’s healthiest beverages. Now an observational study of nearly 14,000 Japanese older adults has found that green tea could keep you doing the things you enjoy well into old age.
In Japan, a nationally uniform questionnaire is used to assess functional disability in the elderly. Put simply, functional disability is an assessment of an individual’s inability to perform activities of daily living (ADL). For the purposes of this study, Level 2 functional disability, or required assistance for at least one basic ADL task, is the marker for determining individuals with disability.
Polyphenols, the bioactive molecules that reside in the green tea leaves, may be the key to improving health well into the lifespan. In contrast to the black and the oolong teas that were also assessed, green tea contains large amounts of polyphenols such as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG has demonstrated protection of DNA from oxidative stress. The antioxidants native to green tea are the most likely cause for overall health promotion.
The researchers state that the strength of the results is bolstered by multiple factors: the accuracy of the disability survey, the large sample population, the high follow-up rate, and the large variety of factors taken into account. However, they report, one limitation may be that they did not control for income or socioeconomic status. More research and clinical trials are necessary to confirm the inverse association between green tea consumption and functional disability.
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