It could reduce your chances of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

According to a new study, consuming coffee could reduce the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s in the future.

“Coffee consumption does seem to have some correlation to a decreased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease,” said Dr. Donald Weaver, co-director of Canada’s Krembil Brain Institute, which performed the study. “But we wanted to investigate why that is — which compounds are involved and how they may impact age-related cognitive decline.”

The researchers focused on three different types of coffee: light roast, dark roast and decaffeinated dark roast. After carrying out the study, they identified a group of chemical compounds called phenylindanes. In short: phenylindanes can help to reduce the possibility of two proteins, that are common in the brain conditions of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s clumping together.

“It’s the first time anybody’s investigated how phenylindanes interact with the proteins that are responsible for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” said Dr. Ross Mancini, a research fellow.

“What this study does is take the epidemiological evidence and try to refine it and to demonstrate that there are indeed components within coffee that are beneficial to warding off cognitive decline,“ he said. “It’s interesting but are we suggesting that coffee is a cure? Absolutely not.”

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