A team of researchers has warned against high consumption of coffee after a study found links between drinking the caffeine-fuelled beverage and signs of cognitive decline.
A US study of more than 8,000 participants over the age of 60 found consuming more than three cups of coffee per day could have serious effects on brain health for the elderly.
The research, presented as part of the 2024 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, linked an overconsumption of coffee to difficulties in pattern recognition, logical thinking and abstract reasoning, common cognitive health indicators.
Interestingly, the project also discovered that “moderate” consumption of coffee, in this case no more than three cups, could actually act to combat cognitive decline.
This new long-term study has revealed members of the research group who never consumed coffee and those who consumed a moderate amount of coffee daily had a slower decline in cognitive function after a roughly nine-year follow-up period.
Study investigator Kelsey R. Sewell PhD explained: “We can see that those with high coffee consumption showed the steepest decline in fluid intelligence across the follow-up.”
Fluid intelligence is a measure of cognitive functions including problem-solving and reasoning ability.
Sewell added: “Our data suggests that, across this time period, moderate coffee consumption can serve as some kind of protective factor against cognitive decline.”
The same pattern was not evident across a similar study of tea drinkers, as those who never drank tea had a greater decline in cognitive ability over the same follow-up period.
The study groups with moderate and high daily tea consumption evidenced stronger cognitive health, however the researchers are cautious in their claims.
Sewell noted: “We still need randomised controlled trials to better understand the neuroprotective mechanism of coffee and tea.”
Additionally, the study uses observational data and lacks data regarding tea and coffee consumption from early to mid-life, meaning the study groups’ consumption patterns could have changed significantly in the years prior to research, affecting the final results.
Despite this, the initial research findings of the long-term study appear to suggest low to moderate coffee consumption was either beneficial or did not worsen cognitive health.
By comparison, analysis over the 8.8-year follow-up period suggested excessive consumption of coffee had a clear pattern of worsened brain health among the selected study group of people over the age of 60.