Tea, exercise and Vitamin D cut dementia risk

A daily cuppa of tea, along with physical exercise and Vitamin D could help prevent dementia, revealed new studies.

The first study is on cardiovascular risk and was conducted by researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

It tracked more than 1,200 senior people over 20 years, 242 of whom developed dementia.

According to the research, those who had moderate to heavy amounts of physical activity had about a 40% lower risk of developing dementia, while participants engaging in the least amount of activity were 45% more likely to develop dementia.

The second study lasted for 14 years and targeted more than 4,800 men and women aging 65 and above, reports englishnews.cn.

Researchers found that those who drank tea one to four times a week had a 37% lower chance of developing dementia than participants who didn't drink tea at all.

The third study examined vitamin D's effect on brain health.

Researchers examined 3,325 US adults' ages 65 and older.

According to the study, those who are deficient in vitamin D have 42% higher chances of suffering from cognitive impairment.

"More and more studies are suggesting that lifestyle changes may be able to silence the expression of risk genes, a phenomenon called epigenetics," said Murali Doraiswamy of Duke University.

The studies were presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Honolulu.