Drinking 5 cups of hot drink a day 'could lower cholesterol' and help stop dementia

People often refer to a generation which doesn’t drink water - instead always enjoying a hot beverage. Well, some research has shown they may be on to something with clear health benefits towards dementia, blood pressure and cholesterol.

In a study of those aged over 85, tea drinkers who enjoyed more than five cups a day were shown to have more focus and a sustained attention span. The Newcastle University research also found that they demonstrated better psychomotor skills – which link brain and movement.

Tea drinkers also showed better accuracy and speed of reaction. These skills could help in daily activities such as driving, sewing and finishing a jigsaw. Previous research has shown that tea has health benefits, including lowering blood pressure and cholesterol and may even aid weight loss.

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“Traditional tea contains antioxidants and offers health benefits such as cancer prevention and cholesterol reduction,” says clinical dietitian Lisa Andrews, owner of Sound Bites Nutrition. “Because of this, it can be a healthful addition to most diets.”

In terms of brain improvement, researcher Dr Edward Okello at Newcastle University’s Human Nutrition Research Centre could not be sure if it was the drink or the routine of making it – that made the difference to older people’s brain function. He said: “The skills we see maintained in this group of the very old may not only be due to the compounds present in tea, but it may also be the rituals of making a pot of tea or sharing a chat over a cup of tea which are just as important.”

Researchers studied the tea-drinking habits of those over 85 living in their own homes or in assisted accommodation and found that those who drank more than five cups of tea a day – with or without milk – performed better at certain cognitive tests.

They used data from the flagship Newcastle 85+ study involving more than 1,000 people aged over 85 from Newcastle and North Tyneside. Started in 2006, studies are still continuing to this day with around 200 participants as they become centenarians.

Research nurses gather information by visiting participants in their own homes to complete a health assessment made up of questionnaires, measurements, function tests and a fasting blood test. Examining the consumption of black tea, Camellia sinensis, the researchers were looking for evidence that it protected against cognitive decline.

They found that higher tea consumption was associated with significantly better attention skills and psychomotor speed on complex tasks. But they found no association between tea consumption and overall measures of memory or performance on simple speed tasks.

The researchers suggest the findings mean that black tea should be considered for the very old in any diet which aims to improve attention and psychomotor speed. Dr Okello said: “We now know that enjoying a cup of tea quenches your thirst and has benefits for over 85s’ attention span.”

Diet and wellbeing guru Dr Michael Mosley, who sadly died earlier this year had found many benefits in the humble cup of char. A study highlighted women who consumed over three cups of tea daily were nearly a third less likely to have bone fractures than those sipping on one cup or less each week.

Moreover, tea is rich in an amino acid named L-theanine, famed for its stress-reducing properties. Dr Mosley added: “L-theanine is a bioactive amino acid that seems to make tea particularly good for relieving stress. In tests, volunteers produced less of the stress hormone Cortisol and reported feeling more relaxed after having a drink containing L-theanine compared to a drink which didn’t.”

He said: “But that’s not the only advantage of the L-theanine in tea - it can also give your brain a boost. Recent studies have shown it can improve memory and reaction time when consumed with caffeine, which is, of course, also present in tea. And by conducting brain scans, researchers believe they may have discovered what’s going on. L-theanine seems to increase the activity of alpha brainwaves which are associated with being calm and alert. It’s thought that when your brain is operating at the alpha frequency, you’re better able to absorb new information and are more creative.”

Sipping on a cuppa could do more than just ease you into the day — it might also slash your risk of developing life-threatening conditions like strokes and heart disease. Considering these potential risks intensify with age, making tea drinking a habit could be beneficial for long-term health.

Dr Mosley concluded: “A study of nearly half a million people in the UK found that those who drank two or more cups of tea a day had a significantly lower risk of dying over the course of the 11-year study than non-tea drinkers.”

He added: “Why? Well, the benefits of tea seem to be most pronounced when it comes to stroke and heart disease, and this positive effect remained even when people added milk or sugar to their tea.”