Caffeine has been described as the most widely consumed psychostimulant in the world.
Every year around 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide, and it turns out that 90% of Americans start their day with a cup. No wonder coffee is the largest food import, and the second most valuable commodity, after oil in the United States.
That morning cup of coffee may be all you need to help start your work day, and sharpen your mind. But if you find yourself repeatedly heading to the coffee pot, for a refill, you may actually be putting your brain health at risk. Too much coffee may increase the risk of dementia, a new study warns.
A study published in Nutritional Neuroscience has found that drinking excessive amounts of coffee — such as dala, six cups, or more per day , can have an impact on our brain health, potentially increasing the risk of neurological diseases such as dementia.
The researchers looked at the coffee drinking habits of 17,702 UK Biobank participants who had MRI records. The UK Biobank is a large biomedical database of genetic and health information from half a million people in the UK. From the data, researchers found that six or more cups of coffee per day was correlated with a 53 percent increased risk of dementia.
Given that their participants had a wide age range, between 37–73 years, the researchers also measured brain volume as an indicator of reduced brain health. Again, those who used to drink six cups of coffee, or more per day, had smaller brains, in the MRI images taken four to six years after the first.
Brain volume is a rough indicator of physical and structural injury to the brain. The brain naturally atrophies with age, but you would expect a greater degree of atrophy in people who have early signs of neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. This study does not explicitly show that coffee consumption causes brain shrinkage, but the findings are noteworthy.
So what does this mean for your coffee drinking habit? Coffee is rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. There’s even research showing that compounds in coffee can have a positive impact on proteins in the brain that are linked to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. In short: It’s okay to consume your pick-me-up (in a cup) in moderation.
