New research published in JAMA reveals a strong reason to feel even better about being three to four espressos deep before the cash market opens in New York.
Here’s the short version of the findings:
- Caffeinated coffee was linked to lower dementia risk. Comparing the highest vs lowest consumption groups, the study reported a hazard ratio of 0.82 (95% CI, 0.76 to 0.89), which means higher caffeinated coffee intake was associated with lower risk.
- People also reported less subjective cognitive decline. The higher-intake group had 7.8% prevalence vs 9.5% in the lower-intake group (prevalence ratio 0.85).
- The “sweet spot” looked moderate. The most pronounced differences showed up around 2 to 3 cups per day of caffeinated coffee.
- Decaf did not show a significant association with dementia risk.
The long-running study, led by researchers from Mass General Brigham, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Broad Institute of MIT, tracked 131,821 U.S. adults for four decades and documented 11,033 dementia cases. One major finding was a very clear pattern: adults who drank about three cups of coffee per day, or one to two cups of tea, had a much lower risk of dementia and more favorable cognitive outcomes over their lifetimes. Decaf, however, did not show the same relationship.