The latest thinking about dementia in the scientific community is that cognitive impairment can be seen as “Diabetes Type 3”, because an abnormal handling of glucose in the brain seems to be one of the underlying mechanisms which promotes dementia, just as impaired glucose regualton in the body is an essential component of the common disorder known as Diabetes Type 2.

A study published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology  shows that drinking green tea may help fight brain glucose dysregulation, obesity and memory impairment. The mechanism involved was studied in mice. It shows that the active ingredient in green tea, EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate), alleviates the effects of a high-fat and high-fructose diet  known to promote cognitive impairment. Researcher Xuebo Liu, Ph.D.,of the  Northwest A&F University in Yangling, China says, “Green tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and is grown in at least 30 countries, “The ancient habit of drinking green tea may be a more acceptable alternative to medicine when it comes to combatting obesity, insulin resistance, and memory impairment.”

In this study groups of mice were fed differing diets for 16 weeks, and the effects of those given the active ingredient in green tea, ( EGCG ) were shown to score better on performance of tasks which measure their ability to complete remember and thus perform a task, navigating a maze.