A recurring FuturePundit theme: The toughest part of the body to rejuvenate is going to be the brain. Therefore anything that slows brain aging is especially valuable for those who want to survive until the reversal of aging becomes possible. With that thought in mind: Looks like a cup of coffee might slow your brain aging.
ST. PAUL, MN- Caffeine may help older women protect their thinking skills, according to a study published in the August 7, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The study found that women age 65 and older who drank more than three cups of coffee (or the equivalent in tea) per day had less decline over time on tests of memory than women who drank one cup or less of coffee or tea per day. The results held up even after researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect memory abilities, such as age, education, disability, depression, high blood pressure, medications, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic illnesses.
“Caffeine is a psychostimulant which appears to reduce cognitive decline in women,” said study author Karen Ritchie, PhD, of INSERM, the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research, in Montpellier, France. “While we have some ideas as to how this works biologically, we need to have a better understanding of how caffeine affects the brain before we can start promoting caffeine intake as a way to reduce cognitive decline. But the results are interesting – caffeine use is already widespread and it has fewer side effects than other treatments for cognitive decline, and it requires a relatively small amount for a beneficial effect.”
The study involved 7,000 people whose cognitive abilities and caffeine consumption were evaluated over four years. Compared to women who drank one cup or less of coffee per day, those who drank over three cups were less likely to show as much decline in memory. Moreover, the benefits increased with age – coffee drinkers being 30 percent less likely to have memory decline at age 65 and rising to 70 percent less likely over age 80.
Now, do I have to take up coffee drinking or watch my mental lights go out? I'd really like to know whether the caffeine or some other compound in the coffee delivers the protective benefit.
There are other ways to get the caffeine of course. For example, 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate has as much caffeine as 8 ounces of instant coffee. Yet another reason to eat chocolate. Black tea contains more than twice as much caffeine as green tea.
By Randall Parker at 2007 August 06 11:38 PM Aging Diet Brain Studies | TrackBack3.5 ounces of chocolate 525 kcals, 35 g fat 18 g sat fat and 46 g of sugar, four reasons not to suggest chocolate as a health food, now unproccessed cocoa consumed on a daily basis, as you reported previously, that I can agree with you on, as a healthy suggestion.
Coffee puts the system under the strain of metabolizing a deadly acid-forming drug, depositing its insoluble cellulose, which cements the wall of the liver, causing this vital organ to swell to twice its proper size. In addition, coffee is heavily sprayed. (Ninety-two pesticides are applied to its leaves.) Diuretic properties of caffeine cause potassium and other minerals to be flushed from the body.
Get the real scoop on coffee at www.CaffeineAwareness.org. And if you drink decaf you wont want to miss this special FREE report on the Dangers of Decaf available at www.soyfee.com
Futurepundit and Parapundit have been of enormous utility in the years I've been reading. Of all posts, however, this one about steering clear of coffee in the morning and instead taking it in the afternoon or early evening has been the most personally useful. Glad to see that it may be beneficial not just on a daily basis, but over the longhaul as well.
Has the study controlled for all the other alkaloids in a cup of coffee, or will a couple of diet sodas confer the same benefit?
Yes, caffeine is a deadly acid-forming drug. This is why we're seeing so many people die from caffeine poisoning. Just the other day, a guy in my building died after drinking two large coffees and eating a dark chocolate bar. Starbucks is being hit by a class-action lawsuit of over 10.5 million coffee drinkers. An average of one customer per week dies in every Starbucks in the world. Starbucks is trying to cover this up, saying most deaths are from "natural causes". But the next time you see someone die in a coffee house, notice how swollen their liver is! Find out the real truth at
www.coffeecrackpotawareness.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marco said:
"Coffee puts the system under the strain of metabolizing a deadly acid-forming drug, depositing its insoluble cellulose, which cements the wall of the liver, causing this vital organ to swell to twice its proper size. In addition, coffee is heavily sprayed. (Ninety-two pesticides are applied to its leaves.) Diuretic properties of caffeine cause potassium and other minerals to be flushed from the body.
Get the real scoop on coffee at www.CaffeineAwareness.org. And if you drink decaf you wont want to miss this special FREE report on the Dangers of Decaf available at www.soyfee.com"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------