Could coffee decrease Alzheimer’s risk?

More than 60% of Americans drink coffee every day. It’s a treasured morning ritual for many, and the caffeine boost many need to get their day started. The health benefits attributed to this brown elixir are many—from helping you burn fat to increasing reaction time. Now, researchers in Australia think that coffee may have another major perk: slowing cognitive decline and even preventing Alzheimer’s disease.

What is Alzheimer’s disease?

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative condition that commonly affects memory, thinking, and behavior in adults age 60 and older. Though, it can have an early onset. It’s the most common cause of dementia. Worldwide, 50 million people live with Alzheimer’s. Although it currently has no cure, there are medical and lifestyle treatments available to slow its progression. Researchers are constantly working to figure out the causes of and risk factors for this form of dementia. 

Can coffee prevent Alzheimer’s?

The new coffee and dementia study, published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, studied 200 participants for 10 years who were aged 60 and older and did not have cognitive impairment at the start of the study. The researchers, led by Samantha Gardener, Ph.D., found that higher coffee intake corresponded to a lower risk of cognitive impairment. Research studies, published since 2009, have shown that middle-aged people who drink coffee may have a significantly decreased risk of Alzheimer’s in older age.

Drinking coffee won’t prevent Alzheimer’s forever. However, it could be a habit to incorporate to decrease your risk. “Our research is looking at modifiable risk factors that could delay the onset of the disease,“ Gardener told SingleCare. “Even a five-year delay would have a massive social and economic benefit, and these dietary modifications are generally accessible to all as well as being less expensive than medications and with less side effects.”

So, does drinking more coffee mean staving off the disease? “Our estimates suggest that the average cup of coffee made at home is 240 g,“ Gardener says. “Increasing intake from one to two cups per day could provide up to 8% decrease in executive function decline over an 18-month period, and up to 5% decrease in cerebral Aβ-amyloid accumulation over the same time period.” 

In other words, it is as simple as having an extra serving. 

Can coffee cure Alzheimer’s?

If someone already has Alzheimer’s, unfortunately, coffee isn’t a cure. “We cannot confirm if coffee intake would be effective at reducing cognitive decline in those already showing cognitive issues,” Gardener explains. However, “the neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease begin to accumulate 15-20 years before symptoms manifest, implying that the optimal age for modifying potential risk factors could be middle-age or younger,” she adds. Meaning, it’s best to start drinking more coffee well before a diagnosis.

Additional research is needed

This study is important, but the issue is far from closed. “Our research may be able to help in the future if our preliminary results are confirmed in further studies,” Gardener says. Simply adding more coffee to everyone’s diet is not a guarantee. “Finding a maximum number of beneficial cups of coffee is a question for future research, which we were not able to identify in the current study,” she says. “Unfortunately, there will be a limit whereby more cups will not produce any further positive effects.”

Other healthcare experts say the research does not definitively explain why or how coffee prevents cognitive decline. “It’s not certain if the benefit in coffee consumption is derived from caffeine or other ingredients in coffee,” says Ziad Nasreddine, MD, a neurologist and founder of the MoCA, which is a test used for detecting cognitive impairment. “This study was not able to clarify that, probably because of the small sample size.” Tea, caffeine pills, and other coffee-like substances were not studied and cannot be used in place of a cup of coffee. 

It’s also important to keep in mind that correlation is not causation, says Jordan Grumet, MD, internal medicine physician in Chicago. This study has shown that there’s a link between coffee and Alzheimer’s, but doesn’t prove that coffee causes delayed cognitive decline. “One could venture that having an extra cup of coffee a day will probably not hurt them, but it is far from proven to be helpful,” says Dr. Grumet.  To prove anything, future studies should be larger and longer. 

What other lifestyle changes can help?

Some people can’t drink coffee because it interacts with other medications or health conditions, it makes them too jittery to perform necessary tasks, or they just don’t like it. In those cases, there are other lifestyle changes that can help to reduce Alzheimer’s risk. 

Those include dietary modifications. “Foods that are associated with less cognitive decline include nutrients found in the Mediterranean diet: fish, nuts, olive oil, fruits (berries), vegetables (green leafy),” Dr. Nasreddine says. Additionally, people can try to “control chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, exercise,” and “possibly mental stimulation” might keep patients lucid longer, says Dr. Grumet. Check in with your healthcare provider and follow his or her medical advice. 

Other lifestyle changes to try include:

• Exercise can help increase blood flow to the brain.  
• Keep blood pressures within normal range, as it is imperative to maintain good blood and oxygenation to the brain.  
• Control diabetes. 
• Bring cholesterol levels into normal range with dietary changes and/or medications. 
• Stop smoking. 
• Maintain relationships, as isolation is a risk factor for dementia. 

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Future treatments

This research can lead to future treatment in the form of medications. Gardener says, “Potentially once the component in coffee having positive effects is identified, this could progress to a drug treatment.” 

There are already some medications to treat Alzheimer’s. Current medications have been shown to decrease the rate of mental decline and help the patients push off the time that they may need institutionalization. This study could provide a new avenue to discovering more effective treatments that can help people live fuller, longer lives.