When novel studies come out about coffee, especially in relation to brain health, the results are usually positive. (Except that coffee shrinks the brain. That’s not so good.) So when novel studies come out, you might expect to be pleased with what they have to say. But not all coffee science is created equal. A novel study finds a link between drinking more than three cups of coffee a day and greater cognitive decline in aged age.
As reported Daily mailthis latest findings come from researchers at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, who presented their findings at a conference in 2024. Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia. For the study, researchers examined nearly 8,500 cognitively intact individuals aged 60 and older from the UK BioBank. The participants were asked to self-report their coffee and tea consumption and undergo at least two follow-up visits—on average, over a nine-year period—during which they underwent cognitive assessments, including: “a paired matching test (errors), a reaction time test, a numerical memory test, and fluid intelligence.”
They found that people who reported drinking four or more cups of coffee a day experienced an “increased rate of cognitive decline.” Compared to the group that didn’t drink coffee, the group drinking four or more cups was the only one with a higher rate of cognitive decline. One possible explanation, put forward by the Daily Mail, is that “sleep loss induced by excessive caffeine consumption” is ultimately what’s causing the damage, as opposed to the coffee itself.
There may also be a cultural component. The study participants were from the United Kingdom, a historically tea-drinking region, and were 70 or older at the end of the study, meaning that coffee had not yet become mainstream in their formative years. It could be that someone who bucks the cultural trend by choosing coffee over tea may also be engaging in other risky behaviors that could be to blame. At the very least, it would explain why the results of this study don’t add up in their entirety other such studies from other parts of the world.
Still, it’s not all bad news. The same study found that drinking 1-3 cups of coffee a day was associated with fewer cases of cognitive decline. And at the same Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, separate study presented the results of studies that found that higher coffee consumption was associated with a reduced risk of dementia.
This concludes our contractually obligated discussion of the unfavorable science of coffee. Now let’s not talk about it anymore.
