A morning cup of coffee or tea may do more than just helping you wake up and start the day, according to major study of drinking habits and dementia risk. Research involving more than 130,000 people found those who had a moderate intake of caffeinated coffee (two to three cups a day) or tea (one to two cups a day) were less likely to develop the condition.
US researchers analysed data from people who took part in two major studies — women in the Nurses’ Health Study and men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Some 11,000 participants developed dementia during the 43-year follow-up. People who consumed higher amounts of caffeinated coffee had an 18% lower risk of developing dementia compared with those who rarely or never drank it.
They also reported lower rates of subjective cognitive decline (7.8% compared to 9.5%) and performed better on certain objective cognitive tests.
Study co-author Dr Daniel Wang, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, said: « When searching for possible dementia prevention tools, we thought something as prevalent as coffee may be a promising dietary intervention.
“Our unique access to high quality data through studies that has been going on for more than 40 years allowed us to follow through on that idea.”
Tea and coffee contain compounds such as polyphenols and caffeine, which are thought to support brain health.
These are believed to have anti-inflammatory benefits and may help to reduce blood pressure.
There was no reduced risk of dementia seen among people who drank decaffeinated coffee, suggesting caffeine may play an important role in any beneficial effect.
Study leader Yu Zhang, of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said: “We also compared people with different genetic predispositions to developing dementia and saw the same results, meaning coffee or caffeine is likely equally beneficial for people with high and low genetic risk of developing dementia.”
The study was observational so could not prove that drinking tea or coffee was responsible for the difference in risk.
Dr Wang added: “While our results are encouraging, it’s important to remember that the effect size is small and there are lots of important ways to protect cognitive function as we age.
“Our study suggests that caffeinated coffee or tea consumption can be one piece of that puzzle. »
The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The research also involved authors at Mass General Brigham and the Broad Institute of MIT.
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