Earlier this week, I decided to stop drinking coffee after watching a special on PBS. I’ve known that coffee is not good for health for a long time, but I was hooked on it.

I had weaned myself down to two cups a day, but I continued to have a curious skin itch that would not go away. Well, I know that normal pH for the body is slightly alkaline, and coffee upsets that balance by making you acidic. Soft drinks do that as well due to the phosphoric acid in them.

I switched to green tea after hearing Dr. Daniel Amen extol its benefits. How did I make it to 49 and not know about the benefits of green tea?

New research shows that green or black tea may be a potent weapon in fighting Alzheimer’s disease. Tea is already thought to protect the body against heart disease and cancers, but research shows black and green tea inhibit the activity of enzymes associated with the development of Alzheimer’s, a form of dementia that affects about 5 million people in the U.S. and is estimated to triple to 15 million people by 2030.

The new finding comes in the wake of research that suggest that flavanoids contained in tea, particularly green tea, protect against strokes, heart attacks and many different types of cancers, as well as other conditions such as tooth decay and dehydration. One study shows that drinking three cups a day is the equivalent of eating six apples.

Green and black tea come from the same plant. Black tea consists of fermented leaves. Green tea is less processed and is popular in China and Japan, where it has been linked to longevity and low rates of heart disease and cancer.

In a recent article published in the journal Phytotherapy Research, scientists found both teas inhibited the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme which breaks down the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. Alzheimer’s is characterized by reduced acetylcholine. Green tea went one step further in obstructing the activity of beta-secretase, which helps produce protein deposits in the brain linked to Alzheimer’s. These findings could help in developing treatments for Alzheimer’s.

A cup or two of green tea a day may help you remember the rest of your life.