Green tea has long been eyed for possible health benefits, including its potential to decrease the risk of certain cancers, its antioxidant properties and its blood-pressure lowering effects. With all of that goodness why would anyone need more convincing? But just in case you did, a new study suggests it could also help with the aging process, too!

Researchers from the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine looked at the green tea-drinking habits of 14,000 older adults, ages 65 and older, for a three-year period and found that the ones who drank the most green tea were also the ones who functioned best in old age. So what does that mean? It means they didn’t have trouble with basic activities like bathing or dressing and seven percent of people who drank at least five cups of green tea a day had basic functioning problems, compared with 13 percent of people who drank a cup or less of green tea a day.

According to the study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:

“Green tea consumption is significantly associated with a lower risk of incident functional disability, even after adjustment for possible confounding factors.”

Researchers did point out that the people who drank the most green tea in the study also had the healthier lifestyles, with diets full of vegetables and fish and low smoking rates. They also had better social support systems, with more friends and family to lean on than people who drank the least green tea.

Do you drink green tea? Have you noticed any improvements in your health?