---喝綠茶有助於降低老人憂鬱症危險

* Green Tea Drinking in Elderly Linked to Lower Risk for Depression

喝綠茶有助於降低老人憂鬱症,不過根據本實驗要喝大量 (>4杯)才有效!

過去的期刊文章不曾證實, 喝綠茶有助於老人心智健康;

但曾證實高咖啡因消耗量 (higher caffeine consumption) ,將使婦女心理健康(mental health) 變差.

December 29, 2009 — More frequent consumption of green tea is associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms

in the community-dwelling older population, according to the results of a cross-sectional study reported in the December issue of

the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Clinical Implications

A previous study failed to demonstrate any effect of green tea consumption on the mental health of men and women. However, higher caffeine consumption was associated with worse mental health among women.
In the current study, high levels, but not moderate levels, of green tea consumption were associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms in older adults.

Part II. Green tea consumption is associated with depressive symptoms in the elderly.

Niu K, Hozawa A, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;90:1615-1622.

[Abstract]

BACKGROUND: Green tea is reported to have various beneficial effects (eg, anti-stress response and antiinflammatory effects) on human health. Although these functions might be associated with the development and progression of depressive symptoms, no studies have investigated the relation between green tea consumption and depressive symptoms in a community-dwelling population. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relations between green tea consumption and depressive symptoms in elderly Japanese subjects who widely consumed green tea. DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional study in 1058 community-dwelling elderly Japanese individuals aged >or=70 y. Green tea consumption was assessed by using a self-administered questionnaire, and depressive symptoms were evaluated by using the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale with 2 cutoffs: 11 (mild and severe depressive symptoms) and 14 (severe depressive symptoms). If a participant was consuming antidepressants, he or she was considered to have depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The prevalence of mild and severe and severe depressive symptoms was 34.1% and 20.2%, respectively. After adjustment for confounding factors, the odds ratios (95% CI) for mild and severe depressive symptoms when higher green tea consumption was compared with green tea consumption of <or=1 cup/d were as follows: 2-3 cups green tea/d (0.96; 95% CI: 0.66, 1.42) and >or=4 cups green tea/d (0.56; 95% CI: 0.39, 0.81) (P for trend: 0.001). Similar relations were also observed in the case of severe depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: A more frequent consumption of green tea was associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms in the community-dwelling older population.