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18th September, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: ‘Drink tea, will focus,’ according to new research. This along with some other health benefits of tea, were presented at the recent 2nd Regional Tea Science Symposium held in Singapore.
Organised by the Lipton Institute of Tea, the symposium was attended by a multi-disciplinary group of experts comprising scientists, researchers and doctors from various countries, including Australia, China and Malaysia.
Professor Chen Zong Mao, President of the Tea Science Society of China and Professor of Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, presented the keynote address on “Tea and Human Health.”
The aim of the symposium is to provide a platform to share objectively and scientifically the value of drinking tea as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Dr Jane Rycroft, Beverages Global Nutrition Manager for Unilever, said studies have shown that black tea consumption has a positive effect on levels of alertness during the day.
An amino acid called L-theanine, a natural component found almost exclusively in tea, appears to hold the key to this. On average, a cup of black tea naturally contains 5 to 23mg of L-theanine.
About 10 years ago, Japanese researchers discovered that 200mg L-theanine increases alpha brain waves, which were associated with a relaxed yet alert mental state during rest.
Unilever commissioned Oxford University conducted a series of EEG (electroencephalography: measurement of electrical activity produced by the brain as recorded form electrodes placed on the scalp) studies using the L-theanine on healthy volunteers.
The studies confirmed that 50mg L-theanine increases alpha brain activity gradually over time, with apparent effect after 80 minutes of drinking the L-theanine and still apparent after 105 minutes later.
Recent research has shown that there is a very specific pattern of alpha activity when humans focus their attention on information coming from a variety of sensory stimulis.
This is known as the alpha attention effect. The study showed that 250mg L-theanine improves attention-related alpha activity, which may enable individuals to focus attention more effectively.
Emphasising the value of drinking tea, Joseph Tan, Food Director of Unilever (Malaysia) Holdings, said: ‘The life we lead today is a busy and stressful one. It’s not always easy to maintain a healthy lifestyle; including tea as part of the effort to stay healthy is easy – it does not require a significant change in lifestyle or time.”
“In fact, for many Malaysians, drinking tea is already a daily habit. We hope that by creating greater awareness on the benefits of tea, would inspire them to include other healthy habits as part of the daily life.”
In addition to unveiling and discussing the benefits of black tea, the symposium also explored the effects of Catechins.
Catechins is a large group of very active flavonoids found in high quantities in green tea and has received much attention lately as evidence points towards their effect on body composition and fat distribution. This is especially important in the light of increasing obesity in the world.
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