Photo: Daniele Levis Pelusi, Unsplash
The Slow Decline Of Brain Fuel Gets A Shot Of Asian-Powered Nitrous!:
Everybody and their dog in the Health & Wellness space loves to throw around the term, “Superfood.”
But with a reasonable standard, maybe there are really only a few, like blueberries.
Interestingly-enough there are other commonly-consumed food & drink items that might also be called, “Accidental Supplements”.
Some of those might include Tea, Coffee, and Dark Chocolate (esp. 70%+).
Also weirdly, many of these “Accidental Supplements” often get ritualized.
And modern scientists are finding there just might be a little bit more to those hot drink rituals than we thought…
The Short Answer:
- UC Irvine researchers found a green tea extract is good for your brain.
- But their experiment only worked with a weird B-vitamin.
- Together, they made a chemical soup that increased brain-cell energy (GTP) in 24 hours.
- This was a complete reversal to youthful function in a surprisingly-short time.
- It also 1) Removed Alzheimer’s plaques, 2) Raised energy, 3) Cleaned up Zombie Cells, and 4) Reduced oxidative damage.
- Low GTP levels have been associated with Alzheimer’s in the past.
- Green tea increased brain-cell growth of the memory-centers in previous tests.
- The other component of the magic formula was a form of B3 called Nicotinamide.
- Supplementing with EGCG has been linked to liver damage.
- Supplementing with high levels of Niacin & Nicotinamide have been linked to some reports of cancer.
- It’s much safer to get EGCG from green tea and niacin from chicken breast or peanuts.
- Vitamins & micronutrients obtained from the diet are MUCH harder to OD on.
Read on to find out the details…
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Humanity’s History Of Drinking Is Full Of Accidental Awesome:
You can take away a Swede’s Fika when you pry it from their cold, dead hands.
Same goes for the ole’ cuppa Black Tea for a Brit, or Green Tea for just about any Asian.
(GoGo Yubari would absolutely kill for some bubble tea)
And historically, we’ve been drinking coffee since the 15th century.
Tea is even older, starting about 5000+ years ago!
Maybe we’ve kept up with them so long because we could still sense there was something good there, even without !SCIENCE!?
Researchers Test Brain Chemistry So You Don’t Have To Do It First:
Well, !SCIENCE! rides in, to the Goddamned rescue!
Because researchers at UC Irvine just figured out one more reason tea is so good for you!
In cell-based tests, they added a special type of green tea extract called, EGCG to another weird substance.
That one’s an odd form of Vitamin B3 that’s usually called, “No-Flush Niacin”. (or Nicotinamide, if you’re a nerd)
Together, they formed a weird chemical soup that looks like it might prevent Alzheimer’s.
So what’s going on?
An important brain-energy chemical (called GTP) tends to go down with age.
And that’s where the B3/Green Tea combo gets interesting.
Green Tea & Vitamin B3’s Mind-Blowing List Of Benefits:
Twenty-four hours after treating cells with these two components, they went from ailing back to energy at the level of young cells!
Hold onto your hats, because there’s more; and better!
The cells also:
1) Started clearing-out the exact same plaques associated with Alzheimer’s
2) Improved their energy metabolism
3) Ramped-up their Zombie-Cell cleanup routine
4) Reduced all kinds of Oxidative-Stress from free-radicals that can damage brain-cells
4a) These can be things you get from sugar & saturated fat intake, as well
-So it looks like this combo almost completely renewed the cells they contacted.
The Magic Elixir That Seems To Reverse The Aging Process:
Not only have low GTP levels been associated with Alzheimer’s in past work,
Green tea and EGCG have been associated with brain health benefits for quite awhile.
One of them is actually increased brain-cell growth right in the organ’s memory-center.
-Which is of course, ground-zero for Alzheimer’s disease & Dementia!
So something from it, maybe antioxidants(?), is making it’s way into the brain.
The best part about this for the time-being is that it’s all pretty easy!
And only mildly-weird actions on your part are necessary if you want the benefits.
Get Your Green Tea Supplements From Food & Drink, Not Pills:
Because just like all the best vitamin & micronutrient sources, you can get them right from food!
We should also take the time to note that not only should you probably JUST DRINK GREEN TEA,
But it might actually be dangerous to take EGCG as a supplement, because it’s been associated with liver damage in the past.
Usually when you get any vitamin or mineral from food or drink, it tends to be buffered, slow-release, and VERY hard to OD on!
So with an average of about 45mg of EGCG in every cup of green tea, you’re probably doing just fine if you have a few every day.
-While the supplements are up near 400mg of some pretty concentrated powder in those capsules.
There Are Some Pretty Nutty Food-Sources Of Niacin, Too:
You’re also in luck with your Vitamin B3.
Because peanuts and peanut butter are full of it at about 25% of the RDA in just 2 Tbsp.
And Chicken Breast is an even better source (that’s tastier than liver and safer than tuna).
Every 3oz of that food you eat gives you 71% of all the B3 you’d need in a day.
-Which let’s face it, is about 1/2 what you’d get at any meal as part of your protein.
So there is also no need to take niacin supplements which can also be very concentrated and high-dose!
Also, excessive niacin supplementation has been associated in scattered reports with cancer.
What About The Real ‘Industrial-Grade’ Version Of This Fix?:
Now, will those get you lab-grade results?
The jury is still out on that.
Even the current study researchers are trying to find improved, medical-grade delivery systems so they can help people in serious trouble.
But for the rest of us, there is an increasing body of work that shows we can take mindful & deliberate action with some pretty normal ingredients.
And that just might help us in some amazing ways over time. -It should also take less than 5,000 years.
So go eat some Kung Pao chicken as you watch “Kung Fu Hustle”, and then drink to your health!
References & Links:
• Source: UC Irvine
• Source Study: GeroScience – Treatment of age-related decreases in GTP levels restores endocytosis and autophagy
