Go for the Green

As much as it always pains me to admit it, it seems that my good friend Fang just might be on to something once again. Of late, he and the lovely Mrs. Fang have enjoyed quite the romantic affair—with the humble tea leaf. (Fang always has been partial to the Asians, though.) Beyond the nascent snob appeal of tea—which, it seems, is now the new olive oil, which itself a couple of years ago was the new wine—now we hear from reputable scientists that tea might just slow down the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

Seems that although black tea has some effect, you have to go for the green if you want balls-out protection. Makes sense, since the fermentation process applied to the black variety is already known to break down one of the key organic compounds (epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCg) that makes green tea so healthy. Previously it was discovered that the by-products of EGCg breakdown, theaflavins and thearubigens, gave black tea many of the same health benefits as green tea. But this latest study is really the first to show that there is a good reason to drink green tea, if not to the exclusion of black tea, at least in addition to it.

Of all the reasons that this makes me happy, perhaps the most heartwarming is that it minimizes the chances that one day, far in the future, I will have to confront a demented Cardinal Fang, sitting in his own excrement, drooling, and mumbling paranoid rants about how the police are out to kill us all . . .

On second thought, maybe it's already too late. :)