Green Tea Consumption and the Risk of Incident Dementia in Elderly Japanese: The Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study

Objective Biologic studies have shown that certain components of green tea may have protective effects on neurocognition. However, because of the lack of human epidemiologic studies, the impact of green tea consumption on the incidence of dementia has never been confirmed. The objective of this cohort study was to clarify the association between green tea consumption and incident dementia. Methods In this 5.7-year prospective cohort study, using a questionnaire, information on daily green tea consumption and other lifestyle factors was collected from elderly Japanese individuals aged 65 years or more. Data on incident dementia were retrieved from the public Long-term Care Insurance Database. Results Among 13,645 participants, the 5.7-year rate of incident dementia was 8.7%. More frequent green tea consumption was associated with a lower risk of incident dementia (hazard ratio for ≥5 cups/day versus