Polyphenols that are found in green tea may reduce the negative effects of obstructive sleep apnea. Polyphenols are antioxidants, and are thought to be the main reason for the wide range of health benefits attributed to green tea.

Obstructive sleep apnea is where a person stops breathing for periods of time during the night. They person has to wake up (though they rarely know that are doing so) to start breathing again. Sleep apnea is not the same as snoring, though most people with sleep apnea will also snore.

Sleep apnea is considered a serious health condition since besides continually briefly waking and getting poor sleep, the frequent periods without oxygen lead to a number of unhealthy consequences.

Possible problems of sleep apnea include increased blood pressure (hypertension), increased rate of cognitive (mental) decline and oxidative stress.

It has been demonstrated the sleep apnea can lead to changes in the brain and can speed up the natural cognitive decline that we all have with aging.

Recent research (PubMed) using mice as model and comparing those that has green tea polyphenols and those that did not. Those that got green tea polyphenols in their water had much less cognitive decline.

Green tea polyphenols have previously been shown to slow the decline with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s and have a neuroprotective effect, so the positive effect on sleep apnea is perhaps not unexpected.

Sleep apnea is very widespread and most people, who have it, do not believe that they do. I know lots of couples where one will complain that the partner has sleep apnea, the partner will swear that they don’t have sleep apnea or even snore. Both you and I could have it! Yet another reason to develop a taste for drinking green tea.

photo credit: tamakisono.

[tags]green tea, sleep apnea, neuroprotection, polyphenols[/tags]