Coffee is often used in scientific studies: it is accused of disturbing sleep, causing anxiety, making us irritable… But it is also acclaimed by other studies for its benefits. on concentration and alertness, it also has a beneficial effect against type 2 diabetes. A recent study published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience points to its usefulness against the cognitive decline that often precedes the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Conducted in Australia, the study covers a small sample of patients, numbering 227. But was spread over a long period, just over 10 years. The researchers observed the link between coffee consumption and the cognitive abilities of the subjects studied.
Slowing amyloid accumulation
They found that beyond a certain dose of coffee drunk each day, age-related cognitive decline, which can be a precursor to a more serious disorder such as Alzheimer’s, was reduced. The dose in question? “If the average home-brewed cup of coffee weighs 240g, moving to two cups a day could potentially reduce cognitive decline by 8% after 18 months”explains one of the doctors who led the study.
Coffee would not only have an interesting role on our executive functions, our attention, our ability to work things out, but would also have benefits against the accumulation of a protein responsible for Alzheimer’s: amyloid. With the dose mentioned above, over 18 months, the researchers note that the agglomeration of this protein on the neurons decreases by 5%. It would also reduce the toxicity of amyloid in the brain.
This study deserves to be deepened because it does not say up to what quantity one can drink coffee so that the benefit/risk ratio remains interesting. It also does not specify how to prepare the coffee so that it is most effective, or at what times of the day to drink it. A sequel should also give more information on the coffee excipients that give it this interesting action.
And then caution again, a recent study had on the contrary concluded that excess coffee was bad for the brain beyond 6 cups!
Source: Higher Coffee Consumption Is Associated With Slower Cognitive Decline and Less Cerebral Aβ-Amyloid Accumulation Over 126 Months: Data From the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers, and Lifestyle Study, Frontiers in Aging NeuroscienceNovember 19, 2021.
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