"Mice which were fed tea displayed fewer signs of ageing than mice that were fed water, with oolong tea showing significantly better results than green tea."

If you are the type to fret over the appearance of wrinkles, age spots and other signs of growing old, oolong tea may be the answer to your worries.

Details of the study, conducted jointly by scientists from America, Taiwan and Tokushima University in Japan, were given at the 17th International Congress of Nutrition in Vienna, Austria late last month.

In the experiment, groups of six-month-old 'senescence-accelerated mice' (SAMs) were separately fed water, green tea and oolong tea over a 16-week period. SAMs age twice as quickly as ordinary laboratory mice.

Checking hair loss, age spots, the condition of skin around the eyes and other indicators of ageing, the scientists found that male SAMs which were fed tea displayed fewer signs of ageing than mice that were fed water, with oolong tea showing significantly better results than green tea.

The Straits Times, Sept. 24, 01