Drinking coffee helps keep seniors’ brains healthy

Research has already found that coffee could have health benefits such as reducing a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes, but new research published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease claims that the caffeinated beverage could improve cognitive function in seniors.

According to UPI and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the study looked at more than 1,400 older Italians between the ages of 65 and 84, and found that over the course of three years, those who drank an average of two cups of coffee per day were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI) than those consuming no coffee.

However, the University of Bari Aldo Moro researchers behind the study also found that those individuals who were not regular coffee drinkers and increased their consumption habits later in life actually had a higher risk of developing MCI (a precursor to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease) than those keeping their intake consistently moderate.

Caffeine could prevent amyloid protein accumulation

While the research has not drawn a firm causal link between coffee consumption and improved mental health in seniors, the authors suggest that caffeine could protect a person’s brain from the accumulation of amyloid protein plaques, which have previously been linked to Alzheimer’s.

As researchers Dr. Vincenzo Solfrizzi and Dr. Francesco Panza explained to the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the findings suggest that “moderate and regular coffee consumption may have neuroprotective effects also against MCI confirming previous studies on the long-term protective effects of coffee, tea, or caffeine consumption and plasma levels of caffeine against cognitive decline and dementia.”

“Findings from neuroimaging studies should become available from experimental data… further explaining the mechanisms underlying the neuroprotective effects of coffee, tea, and caffeine consumption,” they continued, adding that “larger studies with longer follow-up periods should be encouraged” and could open up new diet-related ways to prevent neurodegenerative diseases.

In addition to the link in combating type 2 diabetes, UPI pointed out that previous research has found that coffee was able to boost the memory of laboratory mice, could protect drinkers from such health problems as stroke and high blood pressure, and appeared to offer protection against some forms of cancer, as well as neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.

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