Brain boost in a mug

The latest science on your favorite beverage will surprise you!

Author

Erin Hunter
October 15, 2024

The Livelong Newsletter

Good morning. Today’s read is brimming with valuable knowledge. If you’re enjoying Livelong as much as we enjoy writing for it, we suggest you share it with a friend and help more people get fresh, actionable, and evidence-based information!

Hi everyone,

I am Pavlov’s dog when it comes to my morning cup of coffee ☕. 

Could I chalk up this desire (need?) for an early-morning cup to light caffeine addiction? Sure.

Is it because it stimulates other unseemly but necessary biological processes? Also true. 

But I’d prefer to say it's because it lowers my risk of dementia. 

In this article:

  • 🧠 How does coffee affect dementia risk?

  • #️⃣ How much coffee is enough?

  • 👎 Are there downsides to drinking coffee?

  • ❌ Wait… what if I don’t even like coffee?

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Brain boost in a mug

I love starting my morning with the nutty, burnt, and slightly caramelized flavors of dark roast.

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. Nearly 1 billion people drink it every day–approximately 75% of U.S. adults.

It practically flows like water, and our collective, long-term cognitive health may be all the better for it.

Two to three cups of daily coffee can significantly lower your risk of dementia, according to studies.

How does coffee protect your brain?

image credit: freepik

Coffee contains many antioxidant-rich polyphenols and compounds which can have direct, indirect, or anecdotal neuroprotective benefits.

Caffeine 

Weak evidence suggests that caffeine (a type of methylxanthine) reduces dementia risk, according to the Alzheimer’s Society—it may be that caffeine reduces inflammation and cell death in the brain.

  • These findings, unfortunately, only relate to mouse brains. Until there are more human studies, caffeine cannot be considered neuroprotective, the Alzheimer’s Society writes.

Chlorogenic acid

Coffee is rich in a polyphenol called chlorogenic acid, which can reduce metabolic syndrome and chronic disease–risk factors for dementia. 

Caffeic acid

Caffeic acid is an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective polyphenol found in vegetables, fruits, tea, coffee, oil, and spices.

According to a 2022 study, it has properties that protect the brain against oxidative stress, which leads to neurodegeneration. It also reduces the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s (tau protein build-up and increased calcium levels).

  • ⚠️ Calcium– good for bones, but too much in the brain is NOT GOOD for Alzheimer’s.

Too much coffee increases dementia risk

Coffee may fall into the category of “Helpful in small doses,” as drinking too much could have the opposite effect and increase your risk of dementia, Harvard Health writes. 

A 2021 study in Nutritional Neuroscience suggests that people who regularly drink more than six cups of coffee have a 53% higher risk of developing dementia than those who drink one to two cups per day. 

🏰 The risk is probably not caused by the caffeine, despite popular lore.

  • In the study, drinking too much decaffeinated coffee increased the risk of dementia just as much as caffeinated coffee. 

Cafestol, a compound found in the coffee bean, is the likely culprit, researchers hypothesize.

Coffee and tea: better together 

Coffee is helpful for your brain, but a combination of coffee and tea may have superior cognitive benefits, according to findings from a 2021 study.

  • “Drinking 2 to 3 cups of coffee with 2 to 3 cups of tea daily [was] associated with a 32% lower risk of stroke and a 28% lower risk of dementia,” the authors write.

  • ✨ People who drank this golden duo also had the lowest incidence of stroke and dementia. 

In essence, coffee and tea go beyond reducing the risk of developing dementia–they can prevent it in the first place.

What if I don’t like coffee?

The taste of coffee is not for everyone, but the good news is that its brain benefits are not selective to coffee alone.

Spill the tea. Drinking tea lowers your risk of dementia, too– green and black tea have the most profound effects on brain health compared to any other type of tea.

Unlike coffee, drinking more tea is better.

  • In people with high blood pressure, drinking four to five cups of tea daily was most likely to reduce the risk of developing dementia, based on results from the study featured in Scientific Reports.

Key takeaways 

  • 🧠 Coffee can prevent dementia and reduce the rate of cognitive decline.

  • ☕☕ Two to three cups has the ideal dementia-lowering benefits.

  • ☕ + 🍵 Four to six cups of coffee and tea may offer the best cognitive benefits.

  • ❌ ☕☕☕☕☕☕ ❌ Don’t drink too much coffee (six or more cups), which can increase risk of dementia. 

  • 🫖 For non-coffee drinkers, green and black teas are more likely to reduce dementia risk.

Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] with any comments or questions.

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🔛 What’s next?

We can’t wait to cover more trending topics in longevity in our next newsletter. Stay tuned.

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