According to the Mayo Clinic, Dementia is a very common disease affecting the elderly, with over 3 million cases diagnosed every year.  It is a cruel and lamentable affliction (I, unfortunately, had first-hand experience with my grandmother), and, for the most part, modern medicine has yet to find a reliable cure.

But perhaps scientists may find an answer by looking to the past: according to a new study done by the National University of Singapore, drinking one of the world’s oldest beverages, tea, regularly could lower the risk of cognitive decline among the elderly by 50%.  What is even more remarkable is that those who are genetically at risk for Alzheimer’s disease (a form of Dementia) that drank tea regularly had an 86% lower chance of actually getting Alzheimer’s.

While the study only looked at a rather small sample size of a specific group of people, the preliminary results are promising.  And what’s even better, the study goes on to disclose that the type of tea (black, green, white or oolong) did not seem to change the preservative effects on the brain.

“Tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world,” the study concludes, “the data from our study suggests that a simple and inexpensive lifestyle measure such as daily tea drinking can reduce a person’s risk of developing neurocognitive disorders in late life.”

If this doesn’t encourage you to have tea with Grandma, I don’t know what will!