Caffeine V. Alzheimer's: Your Daily Cup's Bodacious Brain Benefits

caffeine alzheimers hand throwing coffee near mountain

Photo: Sebastián León Prado, Unsplash

You Are What You Eat? … Now You Are What You Drink!:

Recently, a news piece came out on the world’s “Blue Zones”.

These were allegedly places where lifespan is unusually high.

But then we found out that it wasn’t some miracle, it was just bad record-keeping and insurance fraud.

As bad as that is, it doesn’t invalidate the basic ideas.

Good social networks and regular physical and mental activity are important to longevity.

The other one it doesn’t change is groups of people with varying health practices give researchers a ton of different experiments to test.

And another one of those is how food & drink can impact memory-function and ultimately brain health…

The Short Answer:

People’s differing health habits can give SCIENCE some great data.
Think of every different school of thought as its own experiment.
Those results can help us do what we can to avoid problems before a miracle cure.
Just over 260 subjects aged 70 were studied in France for caffeine consumption.
Testing included basic health checks, MRIs, and cerebro-spinal fluid.
Those who consumed 200mg/day or less of caffeine had different proteins in their system than those who consumed more.
They also were 250% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s Disease.
So far, it looks like caffeine reduces receptors that are high in people with AD.
It also looks like it makes the blockages harder to form.
200mg of caffeine equates to 1 cup of drip coffee.
Be careful how late you have caffeine, because it can hang around for up to 8 hours later and potentially hurt your sleep.
Previous studies on caffeine’s benefits have shown improvements in AD, Cognition, other brain problems and a few other serious diseases.
Caffeine may turn out to be one of the best defenses we have against cognitive decline, along with cardio, great sleep, and naps.

Read on to find out the details…

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We Can Still Give !SCIENCE! A Collection Of Best Practices:

So as the Sardinia and Okinawa “Blue Zones” had at least suggested, we all provide researchers with different experiments they can check in order to see what works.

And when they find that out, then they can show the results to the rest of the world.

Because, if we can at least do something that would help move away from a bad outcome instead of toward it,

That’s a lot better than just doing nothing, or potentially doing the wrong thing until the mythical magic cure shows up in 50-100 years.

Hopefully, there is something more we can do, because the issue at-hand is MCI and possibly… Alzheimer’s.

Caffeine’s Surprising Connection With Alzheimer’s Disease:

So in a small study of just over 260 MCI and Alzheimer’s subjects with an average age of 70,

Researchers from France evaluated their health via basic exams, MRIs, and even taking samples of cerebro-spinal fluid.

These tests also included nutritional evaluations as well.

-Which is interesting, because the tests showed something interesting about our old friend, Caffeine!

After defining low-consumption as 200mg/day, what the team found was:

1) Subjects in that group had a very different mix of the three standard brain protein components.

1a) (these are 40, 42, and Tau)

2) Subjects in that group were associated with a 250% greater chance of getting Alzheimer’s

-BOOM!

What Is It Doing, And How Much Caffeine Do I Need?:

So far, it’s looking like caffeine is doing at least two things to stop or slow the disease:

1) It stops at least one protein (Tau) from sticking to things and causing bigger problems

2) It reduces the amount of brain receptors that are normally too-high in people with Alzheimer’s

Now for the question you’ve been asking so far: How much is 200mg of caffeine?

A Few Cups Of Coffee Could Work Some Biochem Mojo:

It’s about one 8-ounce cup of drip coffee.

Right now there isn’t too much evidence on groups not considered at-risk like younger people.

So we don’t know how early you might want to start drinking your 2-ish cups of coffee/day.

But we do know that because caffeine can hang around so long, you do want to have the last of it about 8 hours before bedtime!

This also counts for foods that have caffeine, like dark chocolate, too.

Previous Caffeine Studies Show More And Better Benefits:

But wait, it gets better!

Because other studies have found the following benefits for those who drank coffee for at least 18 months:

1) Between 8-16% lower incidence of Alzheimer’s
2) 5% lower accumulation of Alzheimer’s components
3) Increased Executive Function, Attention, Planning, and Memory
4) Reduced rates of 1 other brain disease
5) Lower rates of 1 serious disease
5a) (for 4 & 5, you need coffee made without paper filters)

So there you have it. The world’s most commonly-used psychoactive substance comes with some pretty impressive benefits.

And following in the footsteps of ancient philosophers who advised us to think of food as medicine,

It might be one of the best defenses we have (besides cardio and sleep) against cognitive-decline until the miracle brain-pills arrive!