DRINKING tea can help to improve the memory and even ward off Alzheimer’s disease, according to research.

Black and green tea were shown in laboratory tests to inhibit the activity of certain enzymes in the brain. It is hoped that the findings, published in the academic journal Phytotherapy Research, may lead to the development of a new treatment for Alzheimer’s — a form of dementia that affects about ten million people worldwide.

Researchers at Newcastle University’s Medicinal Plant Research Centre found that regular consumption of tea inhibited the activity of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which breaks down the chemical messenger, or neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. Alzheimer’s is characterised by a drop in acetylcholine.

Black tea — the traditional English breakfast tea — is taken from the same plant as green tea, but is fermented. Green and black tea were both found also to hinder the activity of the enzyme butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), discovered in protein deposits found on the brain of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Green tea went a step further by obstructing the activity of beta-secretase, which plays a role in the production of protein deposits in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s.

Ed Okello, the lead researcher, said that the findings were particularly exciting because tea was such a popular drink, inexpensive and not associated with any adverse side-effects.

Dr Okello, a green tea drinker, said the research suggested that tea could boost the memory of everyday drinkers. “Tony Benn is a prime example of somebody who drinks tea and has a fantastic memory. He is said to drink 18 pints a day and has a very sharp mind,” he said.

• The average cup of tea or coffee bought on Britain’s high streets now costs £1.30, and with 12 million bought each day the nation’s spending on the two beverages is now a daily £16.3 million. Nine out of ten British adults drink tea or coffee each day, and on average the drinkers consume six cups a day each. If the equivalent cost of one cup of tea or coffee each day was put into a pension fund over the course of 25 years, it would equate to over £19,000, the Prudential said yesterday.

  CUPPA HEALTH

  Prostate cancer: chemicals in green and black tea were found to slow the growth of prostate cancer, according to a study from the University of California, Los Angeles

  Skin cancer: tea contains chemicals that block formation of non-melanoma skin tumours, according to research by the University of Minnesota, Austin

  Ovarian cancer: researchers at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia, reported in July that green tea could improve the survival rates of women with ovarian cancer

  Heart disease: green and black tea were found to lower cholesterol levels and hypertension in studies published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in June last year and July this year

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