From ginseng to lion's mane, there's no shortage of supplements designed to boost your cognitive abilities. But according to a new study, stocking up on nutritional supplements isn't the only way to improve cognitive performance. In fact, there may be an easier way – and it tastes great.
ContentHow the study was conductedHow to improve cognitive abilities: drink Hojicha teaWhat does this study mean for us?
A study published in the journal Scientific Reports found that even small daily servings of green tea and roasted green tea (also known as hojicha) can improve task performance and mental well-being. WomanEL will tell you everything you need to know.
How the Study Conducted
To measure the effects of the two drinks, the researchers recruited a group of 20 Japanese men with an average age of 23 years. They asked them to complete a five-minute mental arithmetic task six times over two sessions on one day. Before and after the first session, they simply drank hot water, and before and after the second session, they drank either green tea or hojicha tea.
A month later, the team asked participants to repeat the process again. She changed the type of tea they were served in the second session to make sure everyone had both teas.
On both days they measured 11 different physiological responses, as well as self-report data on fatigue, stress, mental workload and work process. They then combined these two sets of measures to assess the effects of the drinks on participants' ability to perform tasks.
How to Improve Cognitive Ability: Drink Hojicha Tea
Both green tea and hojicha tea will benefit your brain, Source: freepik.com
The researchers found that both green tea and roasted green tea led to a reduction in participants' stress reactions compared to drinking hot water. They also found that task performance was significantly better when drinking tea compared to drinking water.
But when they looked at the two teas separately, they found that roasted green tea provided the greatest benefits. Hojicha helped participants feel less tired (despite having less caffeine than regular green tea). Additionally, participants who drank roasted tea had better reaction speed and task performance.
“The aromatic stimulation of Japanese tea beverages may have positive effects, improving mental performance, promoting refreshment, and alleviating feelings of fatigue,” they write in the study.
Roasted green tea provides greater cognitive enhancement and helps relieve fatigue, after all, the aroma tends to intensify due to the roasting process.
What is this What does the study mean to us?
Before we get too excited about the results of this study, it is important to note that the sample size is small and limited by factors such as gender and age, so we cannot say with certainty what these results may be replicated on a larger scale.
But that doesn't mean drinking a mug of green tea every day isn't worth it. We've long known, for example, that green tea can promote muscle recovery and is also rich in polyphenols, a type of plant antioxidant that can benefit the entire body.
But roasted green tea, in particular, has its benefits. Hojicha is ideal for people with caffeine sensitivity due to its lower caffeine content.
It is equally important to pump up your brain's internal reserves. It sounds complicated, but it's easier than you think.
