A morning often starts with a cup of coffee or two. Especially as college students, downing a cup of caffeine kickstarts your busy day at school. But what if those caffeinated cups not only wake you up in the morning but also decrease your cognitive decline? In fact, recent research indicated that your daily cups of coffee or tea could lead to lower dementia risk.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on February 9. From the long-term observational study of nearly 130,000 adults, it was determined that the daily optimal serving was two to three cups of coffee or one to two cups of tea to reduce dementia risk. However, Dr. Yu Zhang, lead study author and research trainee at Mass General Brigham, does not recommend people who don’t drink coffee start to drink it. Zhang claimed that “we are just seeing that for people who already drink coffee, the results are really reassuring.”
The research participants were healthy adults who haven’t had cancer, Parkinson’s disease, or dementia. While participants answered dietary questions every few years, researchers tailed dementia cases from death records or self-reported medical diagnoses. After nearly 37 years, the study indicated that more than 11,000 people were diagnosed with dementia. For participants who didn’t drink caffeinated coffee, there were 330 cases per 100,000 per year. For moderate coffee drinkers, the cases were 229 per 100,000 per year. After adjusting for age and smoking, it was discovered that moderate coffee consumers had a 19% lower risk of dementia, while high coffee consumers had an 18% lowered risk.
Zhang stated that the study also compared those with different genetic predispositions to developing dementia and found similar results. That meant that coffee or caffeinated tea had an equally likely beneficial effect for those with a high or low genetic risk of dementia. In fact, the caffeine itself may play an important role in offsetting dementia.
Because higher tea intake displayed similar results to higher coffee intake while decaffeinated coffee did not, it suggests that caffeine is a key factor. Prior research had demonstrated that caffeine could reduce inflammation, and other compounds of coffee and tea could lower oxidative stress, which causes cellular damage. But Zhang commented that dementia is a complex condition that can’t be prevented just through diet changes.
One of the study’s flaws is that the researchers did not count for whether or not the participants’ teas were caffeinated. It also did not differentiate between the tea types, like green or black. Other factors, like roast level, bean origin, and brewing techniques that could have influenced caffeine levels and other compounds, were not noted. Benjamin Katz, an associate professor at Virginia Tech who researches how lifestyle factors can influence cognitive function, observed that the study did not mention if the participants added milk, cream, sugar, or other sweeteners. Katz’s prior research had uncovered a link between sugar-sweetened beverages and increased risk of cognitive impairment. He noted that if you add milk and sugar to your coffee, it could counteract the effects. However, he stated that “[diet]’s really only a small component of a much larger set of lifestyle decisions that you would want to be focusing on to maintain brain health during aging.”
Researchers have been particularly interested in how lifestyle factors like diet affect dementia development to increase early dementia prevention. It is especially crucial because current treatments typically offer benefits only after symptoms are displayed. The next time you drink a cup of coffee, think about its potential benefits.
