Green tea has a positive reputation in many areas of health such as Alzheimer’s, some cancers and weight management, according to many studies. However, some other studies have brought up a new health benefits for supporting stress.
The study results by the Ohsaki Cohort Study provide the first comprehensive epidemiological evidence for an inverse relationship between green tea consumption and mental distress (1). The Japanese researchers analysed cross-sectional data for 42093 Japanese individuals, aged 40 or above, from the general population. Information on a daily green tea consumption, psychological distress and other lifestyle factors was collected by using a questionnaire. Statistical tools were then used to adjust the data to account for differences in the participants’ age, sex and lifestyle habits.
Within the study population, 2774 (6.6%) of the participants were classified as having psychological distress and inverse association between green tea consumption and psychological distress was observed for people who drank at least five cups of green tea per day, compared to those who drank less than one cup per day.
There results remained statistically significant, even after adjustment for cofounding factors. Further controlled studies are now needed to elucidate possible mechanism behind green tea’s stress-reducing effects.
