Three Drinks Known to Improve Brain Power

I would like to get your brain working better and decrease your risk of Alzheimer’s disease with very little effort on your part. To do that here are three suggestions as to drinks that can make a positive difference to your mental well being.

Green tea has a unique antioxidant called EGCG that is able to convert the amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease into a less damaging molecule. By converting these plaques in such a way it is believed that green tea should help slow down (if not help prevent) the progression of the Alzheimer’s - and to have an effectrnyou would need to only drink four cups a day.

Researchers have found that Rooibos tea protects the nervous system and the brain especially against the damage from free radicals or the chemicals that produce cell damage and ageing which can lead to dementia and degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. Rooibos (as well as Oolong tea) contain flavonoids and polyphenols both of which are powerful antioxidants and free radical scavengers as they can prevent the breakdown of proteins and cell mutation.

Unfortunately, much of this activity is lost in the processing of the tea and what is left is not very water soluble – in effect making Rooibos half as powerful an antioxidant as black tea (which unfortunately is about 20 percent as powerful as green tea!)

If tea isn't your cup of tea (no pun intended) then you will be pleased to know the benefits have also been seen in coffee drinkers. In fact, two very good articles show that coffee and caffeine consumption have a great response in reducing the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease in particular. A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that coffee drinkers may be protected from mild memory and thinking problems that come with old age, whilst a 2002 paper found that people who consumed more caffeine in middle age appeared to be protected from developing Alzheimer's later on.

It is believed (from work done on mice) that the caffeine may reduce the levels of plaque that forms in the brains of Alzheimer's sufferers as caffeine can stop bad cholesterol moving from the blood stream into the brain. Although it is speculation as to the effects in humans researchers cannot see any reason why the effects and therefore the results shouldn't be the same.

Regardless of whether coffee plays a role in the prevention of Alzheimer's or not other benefits from drinking coffee have been noted. These include a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, cirrhosis and cancer of the liver and even suicide! Therefore with all these benefits it may be worth drinking a cup or two anyway!

So, that is three drinks to start with - in the next article I will suggest a couple of other simple additions to your diet that will pay dividends…