A study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reveals that your daily caffeine fix might be doing more than just perking you up—it could be protecting your brain from dementia.
Researchers analyzed data from over 131,000 participants in two long-term US health studies: the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. These folks were tracked for up to 43 years, with regular check-ins on their coffee and tea habits via food questionnaires. They also reported on cognitive changes, and a subset even took detailed phone-based brain tests.
The big takeaway? People with the highest caffeinated coffee intake—around 4.5 cups a day for women and 2.5 for men—had an 18% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's compared to non-drinkers. Tea drinkers sipping about a cup a day saw a 14% drop in risk. Even better, moderate amounts like 2-3 cups of coffee or 1-2 cups of tea showed the strongest cognitive perks, with better test scores and less self-reported mental fog. And sorry, decaf fans—no benefits there; it's the caffeine that's the hero.
It's important to note the study, although large, was observational, and only points to an association. It cannot conclusively say that caffeine reduces the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's.
