Drinking Coffee Seemed To Slow Brain Ageing In A Huge Study

Yes, too much caffeine can lead to jitters, a bad night’s sleep, and even high blood pressure. 

But there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that moderate coffee consumption (roughly three cups or less a day, or 200-300 mg per day of caffeine) could actually be good for us. 

It’s been linked to better heart health, increased longevity, and even better ageing. 

A new study of over 130,000 participants has suggested it could slow brain ageing and reduce dementia risk, too. 

Why might coffee consumption help brain age? 

The paper, published in JAMA, involved 131,821 participants, who the researchers followed for 43 years. 

The data came from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. None of the participants had dementia, Parkinson’s, or cancer at the start of the study. 

Every two to four years, the scientists asked participants to share their caffeine intake as part of dietary questionnaires.

The researchers compared these self-reports to health data across the years, including cognitive tests they asked people to complete throughout the study. In the decades of follow-up, just over 11,000 people developed dementia.

And once they’d compared the results, the researchers found that:“Greater consumption of caffeinated coffee and tea was associated with lower risk of dementia and modestly better cognitive function, with the most pronounced association at moderate intake levels”.

In this study, “moderate” caffeine consumption was about two to three cups of coffee a day, or one to two cups of tea daily. 

Even in the “high” consumption bracket, though (up to five cups of coffee a day), dementia risk seemed to be 18% lower. And cognitive decline seemed slower n caffeinated coffee drinkers, too.

Does that mean drinking coffee will definitely lower my dementia risk? 

This was an observational study, which only showed a link between coffee consumption and dementia.

Researchers couldn’t prove for sure that it was the coffee itself that made the difference; although they tried to account for things like diet quality, things like medications could have impacted the results. 

Still, the results were not seen for those drinking decaffeinated coffee or tea, suggesting there might be something about caffeine that could help the brain.