I have scientific evidence that my coffee habit will keep my intellect and razor sharp whit intact even as my body shrivels away into oblivion.
A study just published in JAMA followed over 130,000 people for up to four decades. They measured how much caffeinated coffee and tea people drank and compared that to who ended up with dementia later in life. They found that people who drank about two to three cups of caffeinated coffee (caffeine is the key!) every day had a significantly lower risk of developing dementia than those who didn’t. Drinking coffee was also linked to fewer complaints about memory slip-ups and better scores on cognitive tests.
The results weren’t so rosy for those drinking decaf. Their brains received absolutely zippo signals of protection. What cements caffeine as the key is that people who drank caffeinated tea received some benefit, albeit smaller.
Don’t try to shove your “correlation doesn’t prove causation” nonsense down my throat. I don’t care. I have the study that I want to believe. Nothing will shake my undying belief that my brain will be sharp until the last neuron burns out. If this study is right, and of course it’s right if I choose to believe it, every cup is a cognitive investment that pays dividends for decades.
Researchers try to hedge their conclusions with baloney such as other “lifestyle” factors that might be at play and that coffee alone may not be a magic elixir. They mention the need to control for diet, exercise, sleep, blah blah blah. But after 40 years of following thousands of people, the only thing that consistently separated the sharper minds from the dull ones was caffeine in the bloodstream. Time to set up that coffee IV in my office.
Read the study for yourself.
Results Among 131 821 participants (mean age at baseline, 46.2 [SD, 7.2] years in the NHS cohort and 53.8 [SD, 9.7] years in the HPFS cohort; 65.7% were female) during up to 43 years of follow-up (median, 36.8 years; IQR, 28-42 years), there were 11 033 cases of incident dementia. After adjusting for potential confounders and pooling results across cohorts, higher caffeinated coffee intake was significantly associated with lower dementia risk (141 vs 330 cases per 100 000 person-years comparing the fourth [highest] quartile of consumption with the first [lowest] quartile; hazard ratio, 0.82 [95% CI, 0.76 to 0.89]) and lower prevalence of subjective cognitive decline (7.8% vs 9.5%, respectively; prevalence ratio, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.78 to 0.93]). In the NHS cohort, higher caffeinated coffee intake was also associated with better objective cognitive performance. Compared with participants in the lowest quartile, those in the highest quartile had a higher mean TICS score (mean difference, 0.11 [95% CI, 0.01 to 0.21]) and a higher mean global cognition score (mean difference, 0.02 [95% CI, −0.01 to 0.04]); however, the association with global cognition was not statistically significant (P = .06). Higher intake of tea showed similar associations with these cognitive outcomes, whereas decaffeinated coffee intake was not associated with lower dementia risk or better cognitive performance. A dose-response analysis showed nonlinear inverse associations of caffeinated coffee and tea intake levels with dementia risk and subjective cognitive decline. The most pronounced associated differences were observed with intake of approximately 2 to 3 cups per day of caffeinated coffee or 1 to 2 cups per day of tea.
Conclusions and Relevance Greater consumption of caffeinated coffee and tea was associated with lower risk of dementia and modestly better cognitive function, with the most pronounced association at moderate intake levels.
JAMA – Coffee and Tea Intake, Dementia Risk, and Cognitive Function
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