Long-term coffee drinking may be associated with a lower risk of developing dementia and more favorable cognitive health outcomes, according to a long-running analysis involving more than 130,000 people.
The study, published online Feb. 9 in JAMA, found that among both men and women, people in the highest quartile of caffeinated coffee consumption (2-3 cups per day or more) had an 18% lower risk of dementia compared with those who reported little or no caffeinated coffee consumption.
Caffeinated coffee drinkers in that highest quartile also had lower prevalence of “subjective cognitive decline” compared with people in the lowest quartile (7.8% versus 9.5%). In some measurements, people who drank caffeinated coffee also showed better performance on objective tests of overall cognitive function, according to the authors.
Higher tea intake showed similar results, while decaffeinated coffee did not, suggesting that caffeine may be key to the neuro-protective effects.
The benefits were most pronounced among people who consumed at least 2-3 cups of coffee or 1-2 cups of tea daily. People who drank even more coffee each day experienced similar results to those who drank 2-3 cups.
The study examined data from 131,821 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, which tracked dietary intake over decades. The analysis was led by investigators affiliated with Mass General Brigham, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
“When searching for possible dementia prevention tools, we thought something as prevalent as coffee may be a promising dietary intervention — and our unique access to high quality-data through studies that has been going on for more than 40 years allowed us to follow through on that idea,” senior author Daniel Wang of Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School said in an announcement of the publication.
The study adds to a mixed landscape of academic findings on coffee and dementia risk. One recent study found that coffee may reduce dementia risk in people with hypertension. Another study from 2021 suggested that six or more cups of coffee per day may increase dementia risk, a finding that was not supported in the Mass General Brigham analysis.
Noting the limitations of the observational study, Wang framed coffee consumption as part of a broader set of factors affecting cognitive health and dementia risk.
“While our results are encouraging, it’s important to remember that the effect size is small and there are lots of important ways to protect cognitive function as we age,” Wang said. “Our study suggests that caffeinated coffee or tea consumption can be one piece of that puzzle.”
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