Researchers at the University of South Australia conducted a study on the use of coffee and found that consuming too much of it could reduce brain volume and increase the risk of cognitive decline.
Released in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience, the study occurred at the University’s Australian Center for Precision Health at SAHMRI.
The study involved more than 17,000 participants from the UK Biobank, with an age range between 37 and 73.
“We conducted prospective analyses of habitual coffee consumption on 398,646 UK Biobank participants (age 37–73 years), including 17,702 participants with MRI information,” the study reads.
“We examined the associations with brain volume using covariate adjusted linear regression, and with odds of dementia (4,333 incident cases) and stroke (6,181 incident cases) using logistic regression.”
The findings point to inverse linear associations between frequent coffee intake and total brain grey matter, white matter, and hippocampal volumes. Additionally, the consumption of at least six cups of coffee a day led to a nearly 53 percent higher risk of cognitive decline, in comparison to consumers of only two cups each day.
“High coffee consumption was associated with smaller total brain volumes and increased odds of dementia,” researchers concluded.
