Study: Green tea may raise spirits

December 21, 2009 A new study finds elderly men and woman who sip on several cups of green tea a day may be less likely to have the blues.

In the study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found men and women who drank four or more, versus one or fewer cups, of green tea daily were 44 percent less likely to have symptoms of depression.

According to investigators, the amino acid theanine found in green tea is thought to have a tranquilizing effect on the brain, which may explain the potentially beneficial effect.