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Green tea has long been hailed for its antioxidants within, but mounting research is starting to show that it can have benefits beyond fighting free radicals, such as preventing Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center discovered that the flavonoid ECGC — or epigallocatechin-3-gallate — in green tea could bind to the toxic protein beta-amyloid, which collects in patients with Alzheimer’s, causing many of its symptoms. By doing this, the green tea component changed beta-amyloid’s properties. Dr. Mi Hee Lim, lead researcher in this study, found that ECGC bound to to beta-amyloid best when calcium or zinc were present, and that upon binding, they were less likely to form into plaques that cause Alzheimer’s by growing in the brain.
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