Coffee and Health
Reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease and Dementia
Several studies comparing moderate coffee drinkers (about 2 cups a day) with light coffee drinkers (less than one cup a day) found that those who drank more coffee were significantly less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease later in life. A longitudinal study in 2009 found that moderate coffee drinkers (defined as 3-5 cups per day) had reduced risk of developing Dementia in addition to Alzheimer's Disease.
Reduced risk of gallstone disease
Drinking caffeinated coffee has been correlated with a lower incidence of gallstones and gallbladder disease in both men and women in two studies performed by the Harvard School of Public Health. A lessened risk was not seen in those who drank decaffeinated coffee.
Analgesic enhancement
Coffee contains caffeine, which increases the effectiveness of pain killers, especially migraine and headache medications. For this reason, many over-the-counter headache drugs include caffeine in their formula.
Antidiabetic
Coffee intake may reduce one's risk of diabetes mellitus type 2 by up to half. While this was originally noticed in patients who consumed high amounts (7 cups a day), the relationship was later shown to be linear. (Salazar-Martínez 2004).
Reduced risk of Parkinson's disease
A study comparing heavy coffee drinkers (3.5 cups a day) with non-drinkers found that the coffee drinkers were significantly less likely to contract Parkinson's Disease later in life. Likewise, a second study found an inverse relationship between the amount of coffee regularly drunk and the likelihood of developing Parkinson's Disease.
Coronary artery disease
A large Finnish study examining the relationship between coffee drinking and the development of coronary artery disease was published in the December, 2000 Archives of Internal Medicine. Finland has both a very high rate of coronary artery disease, and a high per capita consumption of coffee. Over 20,000 men and women were surveyed in this study on several health habits – including coffee drinking – and then followed for 10 years.
There was no association between the level of coffee consumption and the risk of coronary artery disease. Indeed, the highest risk of death from coronary artery disease was found in those who did not drink coffee at all.
The Iowa Women's Health Study showed that women who consumed coffee actually had fewer cardiovascular disease incidents and lower cancer rates than the general population. For women who drank 6 or more cups, the benefit was even greater.
Cognitive performance
Many people drink coffee for its ability to increase short term recall and increase IQ.
Likewise, in tests of simple reaction time, choice reaction time, incidental verbal memory, and visuospatial reasoning, participants who regularly drank coffee were found to perform better on all tests, with a positive relationship between test scores and the amount of coffee regularly drunk. Elderly participants were found to have the largest effect associated with regular coffee drinking.
Another study found that women over the age of 80 performed significantly better on cognitive tests if they had regularly drunk coffee over their lifetimes.
