Study: Green tea ingredient may improve memory, obesity

July 28 (UPI) -- New research with mice suggests an ingredient found in green tea may alleviate high-fat and high-fructose induced insulin resistance and cognitive impairment.

The study, published in the July edition of The FASEB Journal, found that the most abundant and biologically active ingredient in green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, or EGCG, can improve memory impairment, brain insulin resistance and obesity in mice studies.

"Green tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and is grown in at least 30 countries," Xuebo Liu, a researcher at the College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, in Yangling, China, said in a press release. "The ancient habit of drinking green tea may be a more acceptable alternative to medicine when it comes to combating obesity, insulin resistance, and memory impairment."

Researchers fed three groups of 3-month-old male mice a placebo diet, a high-fat, high-fructose, or HFFD, diet, and an HFFD diet with 2 grams of EGCG per liter in drinking water for 16 weeks.

The mice fed the HFFD diet had a higher body weight than the control mice and significantly higher than those fed a combination HFFD and EGCG diet. The study showed that the mice in the HFFD group took longer in cognitive and memory testing than the control group and significantly longer than the HFFD and EGCG group.

"Many reports, anecdotal and to some extent research-based, are now greatly strengthened by this more penetrating study," Thoru Pederson, editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal said.