The Monday Morning Stimulus

Daily Coffee News cites a Study: Moderate Coffee Drinking May Slow Cognitive Decline in Older Adults

A new long-term study found that drinking one to three cups of coffee per day may be the sweet spot for older adults seeking to prevent cognitive decline.

Published July 21 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the longitudinal prospective cohort study followed more than 8,700 dementia-free adults aged 60 to 85.2 over a period of just over nine years, using data from the UK Biobank cohort.

After placing study participants into three groups based on daily coffee and tea consumption habits — never, moderate (1-3 cups) or high (4 or more cups) — researchers tracked cognitive performance using several tests of memory, reasoning and reaction time.

The most consistent finding was that people who drank a moderate amount of coffee, or a moderate or high amount of tea, experienced a slower decline in a specific type of reasoning ability known as fluid intelligence, which tends to diminish with age.

People who drank 4 or more cups of coffee experienced the greatest decline in fluid intelligence, according to the Australia-based research team.

Interestingly, tea drinkers started off with slightly lower fluid intelligence scores at baseline, but their decline over time was slower — suggesting a potential protective effect.

I drink 2-3 cups, the term cup being loosely defined.

The Wombat has Rule Five Sunday: The End of Summer up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.