Prepare to be a genius!
If your brain requires a morning jolt to get going, think beyond a cup of Joe and go green. That’s because green tea can help improve memory and cognition in men, reports a new study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Researchers recruited 12 healthy men and divided them into two groups. One group consumed a drink containing a green tea extract, while a placebo group was given a drink without the extract. (Check out the Men’s Health Supplement Center for more natural ways to give your mind and body a much-needed boost.)
Then, using an MRI machine, scientists took an inside look into the men’s brains while they performed a memory test. Compared to the placebo group, the green tea drinkers experienced an increase in the activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with working memory, which you need for problem solving and focus.
How it works: Green tea is chock full of polyphenols like EGCG. These healthful chemicals might be behind green tea’s benefits. “Green tea may help prevent neurotransmitters involved in brain functioning, like dopamine and epinephrine, from degrading. It may also inhibit senile plaques from depositing in the brain, which impairs cognition,” says study co-author Stefan Borgwardt, M.D., of the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland. (Green tea isn’t the only food that improves cognitive functioning. Fend off anxiety, depression, restlessness, and more with these 6 Foods That Boost Your Brain.)
Though researchers only looked at green tea extract, consider drinking a cup or two instead. (It’ll fill you up and you’ll avoid additives, like artificial sugars, found in many extracts.)
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