THIS is Your Brain on GREEN TEA: New (2024) Science on the Brain Health Benefits of Green Tea

In the YouTube video "THIS is Your Brain on GREEN TEA: New (2024) Science on the UNREAL Brain Health Benefits of Green Tea," the speaker explores the impact of green tea consumption on brain health. The speaker, who began researching this topic in 2019, discusses both the acute and chronic effects of green tea on the brain. The acute effects, which occur within minutes to hours of consumption, are due to compounds like caffeine and L-theanine that improve mood, attention, and cognitive performance. The chronic effects, which occur through long-term daily consumption, include a reduced risk for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and dementia. Two key compounds, caffeine and L-theanine, are highlighted for their neuroactive and bioactive properties. Caffeine, a stimulant, enhances mood and cognitive performance in the short term and reduces the risk for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's in the long term. L-theanine, an amino acid, has stress-reducing and anti-anxiety effects, improves sleep quality, alleviates depression, enhances learning and memory, and decreases the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. The video also discusses a study where students undergoing stress were given Aline, an amino acid found in green tea, resulting in lower stress levels and improved antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in the brain. Green tea's antioxidant activity also affects gene expression in the brain, turning on genes that create antioxidant enzymes and downregulating inflammation genes, preventing chronic inflammation. The speaker also mentions recent research on the gut-brain axis, showing that green tea consumption increases the levels of brain-altering bacteria in the gut, potentially alleviating psychiatric and neurological disorders. Professor Jang Sheen from Ningbo University is leading studies on how tea polyphenols work through the microbiome to increase neurotransmitter levels in the gut and brain. The speaker provides a downloadable PDF of the video's information, including transcript, citations, and key figures, and promotes an eight-chapter masterclass on tea.

In this section of the YouTube video titled "THIS is Your Brain on GREEN TEA: New (2024) Science on the UNREAL Brain Health Benefits of Green Tea", the speaker discusses how green tea consumption impacts the human brain. The speaker began researching this topic in 2019 and has since published an academic review article that has been cited over 100 times. The video explores the acute and chronic effects of green tea on the brain. The acute effects, which occur within 30 to 120 minutes after consuming green tea, are due to caffeine and other compounds in green tea that improve mood, attention, and cognitive performance. The chronic effects, which occur through years of daily regular green tea intake, result in a brain that is less likely to develop diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and dementia. The speaker highlights two key neuroactive and bioactive compounds in green tea: caffeine and L-theanine. Caffeine, a stimulant, improves mood and cognitive performance in the short term and reduces the risk for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's in the long term. L-theanine, an amino acid, has stress and anxiety-relieving effects, improves sleep quality, alleviates depression, enhances learning and memory, and decreases the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.

In this section of the video, the speaker discusses a study where students who were undergoing a stressful time were given either a placebo or 200 milligrams of Aline (an amino acid found in green tea) twice a day. The results showed that both subjective and objective markers of stress were significantly lower in the Aline group than the placebo group. Human studies have consistently shown that Aline has a significant stress-reducing and anti-anxiety effect. In the long term, daily intake of green tea leads to Aline acting as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent in the brain, contributing to a lower risk level for Alzheimer's, dementia, and Parkinson's. Additionally, cognitive function improves in middle and older-aged individuals, and Aline induces neurogenesis in human neurons, making brain cells grow. The mechanisms of how Aline achieves these effects are still being researched. The speaker also mentions that the effects of green tea on the brain, specifically the Aline-mediated effects, are more pronounced in higher-grade teas. The video then moves on to discuss the role of green tea kakin, particularly EGCG, in the brain's long-term health.

In this section of the YouTube video titled "THIS is Your Brain on GREEN TEA: New (2024) Science on the UNREAL Brain Health Benefits of Green Tea," the speaker discusses how green tea consumption significantly affects gene expression in the brain. Green tea's antioxidant activity turns on genes that create antioxidant enzymes, such as Nrf2, enhancing the body's innate capacity for antioxidant function. Green tea also downregulates the inflammatory pathway by turning off inflammation genes, preventing chronic inflammation that can lead to brain diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and dementia. Another gene, Krab, is upregulated by green tea, increasing mitochondrial biogenesis and neurogenesis, leading to growth and outbranching of neurons and regulated neurotransmission. The combination of these gene expression changes and green tea's direct free radical neutralizing effects make the brain less likely to develop disease. The speaker also mentions recent research on the gut-brain axis, showing that green tea consumption increases the levels of brain-altering bacteria in the gut, particularly lactobacillus and bifido bacteria, which improve serotonin production.