While an apple a day keeps the doctors away, a cup of tea could keep off dementia on the other hand, according to a study conducted by the University of Singapore.

According to the NUS’ study, regular tea drinkers are less possibly to develop dementia compared to those who do not drink tea at all. In fact, just the average cup of tea a day or around 200 mL is all that we need.

Also, tea can help those people whose genetics prompt them to getting Alzheimer’s disease – the most common form of dementia, prevent the disease.

Whether it is a green, black or oolong tea, it makes no difference, according to Assistant Professor, Feng Lei, who conducted the research.

In a recent research published last year, the said benefit only applies to teas brewed with leaves from the tea plant, which is scientifically known as camellia sinensis – and not to fruit or flower teas.

Unfortunately, adding milk to the tea may reduce the absorption of one of the tea’s chemical compound called catechin.

From 2003 to 2010, Prof. Feng, who is from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine’s psychological department, studied approximately 1,000 Singaporean Chinese seniors.

Prof. Feng noted that although the research was conducted among the Chinese participants, its result should also apply to other ethnicities.

Based on statistics, dementia affects a roughly one out of 10 persons aged over 60 in Singapore, where the population of people aged 65 and above is expected to boom to 900,000 by year 2030.

The complete detail of this article was published by the Straits Times in The New Paper, a free newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.