No, that little cup of Coffee extra will not improve your cognitive performance as you age. Quite the contrary. A study on aging carried out by researchers at Bari Aldo Moro University (Italy) has shown that there is a link between coffee drinking habits and the risk of mild cognitive impairment in middle-aged people. This decline is the stage that precedes the development of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
This study found that the risk of mild cognitive impairment is doubled when you increase your coffee consumption with age. There is currently no effective treatment for neurodegenerative disease. The best weapon for y escape remains the identification and management of risk factors. One in three cases could thus be avoided.
The impact of coffee consumption
To reach this conclusion, the researchers followed 1,445 people aged 65 to 84 for 3.5 years. The subjects were all cognitively healthy at the start of the study. As a result, those who increased their coffee intake (more than one cup per day) had a double the risk of mild cognitive impairment than those who reduced by at least one cup. Those who kept the same habits had a 1.5 times higher risk than those who reduced. Finally, those who regularly consumed a moderate amount (i.e. one or two cups per day) had a lower risk of mild cognitive impairment than those who never or rarely consumed it.
Researchers put forward certain mechanisms to explain the neuroprotective effects of coffee consumption. Coffee activates A2A adenosine receptors (A2ARs) which can reduce protein damage Beta-amyloid, harmful to the brain and present in people with Alzheimer’s disease. But at a certain age, it takes a balance of A2Ars levels for a neuroprotective effect and a higher dose of caffeine can impair memory.
Conclusion of this study: as you age, it is better to consume coffee in a moderate way and not to increase your usual consumption.
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