Patriot Health Digest
It’s not a secret that coffee can affect your energy and digestion. While these effects are usually fast, coffee consumption has long-term effects on your brain health. Different studies have said coffee might even support memory and lowers the chances of getting disorders like dementia.
Brain health and coffee.
676 elderly men were studied over 10 years to see if coffee consumption protected them from cognitive damage. The scientists discovered that men who consumed coffee had lower cognitive decline than those who did not.
The greatest change was in those who drank three cups per day. Those who drank more than that or less than that saw less benefits.
In another study, a group of people were watched for 21 years to find out if coffee aided in brain health. The researchers discovered that middle-aged coffee drinkers had a lower dementia risk later in life, when compared to people who didn’t drink coffee. While the absolute lowest risk group was the people who drank three to five cups per day.
Is all coffee the same?
Despite these results, not everything inside coffee is good. Unfiltered coffee for example has oils called diterpenes, which will increase your LDL cholesterol levels. Consuming this can possibly lead to the hardening of the walls of the arteries in your brain.
Also, Acrylamide, a chemical made when coffee beans are roasted, can harm neurotransmission, destroy your dopamine neurons, and increase the oxidative stress in your body. The amount of acrylamide in coffee varies, but dark-roasted and fresh beans usually have the smallest amount.
What to do.
There are lots of chemicals in coffee, experts can’t say for sure whether coffee protects against brain diseases. But the science says there are more positive effects than negative when coffee is drank in moderation.
Drinking two to four cups a day of dark-roasted, freshly ground coffee beans could your best bet for a healthy aging brain.
