Tea drinkers are smarter and younger

The study, carried out by researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong looked at the length of telomeres, DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that shorten as cells replicate and age. They found that particularly among older Chinese men those drinking three or more cups of tea (mainly green tea), compared to those having less than a quarter cup a day on average had longer telomeres corresponding to ‘“approximately a difference of 5 years of life”, wrote the researchers, led by Ruth Chan. An earlier study this year also found that those taking multivitamins also had longer telomere length. A study in the Journal of Nutrition also found better learning and memory among those drinking more tea. In this study those eating dark chocolate and red wine also had better cognition. Research by the same group finds that coffee drinkers have worse cognition. Both black tea and green tea are high on flavonoids, which are also rich in chocolate and red wine. It is loking like this is the common demoninator. So, instead of heading down to Starbucks how about a nice cup of tea?