There is a correlation between coffee drinkers and a reduced risk of dementia.

By Abel Kalpinand Prasad

Adelaide, South Australia

 

For years Scientists have claimed the benefit of coffee for our health. I’m not talking about a double shot, full fat, double whip, coconut sprinkle coffee but a plain long black.

Last year it was found that drinking three cups of the stuff was good for your heart, I’m on six cups of coffee a day so my cardiologist should be impressed.

After reading an article in The Sun, it stated a study by researchers from the Krembil Research Institute in Toronto, Canada had found that your morning cup of coffee may help to protect you from both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

But whats very interesting is that it isn’t the caffeine that’s to thank.

The researching scientists found that both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffees held similar beneficial properties.

“The caffeinated and decaffeinated dark roast both had identical potencies in our initial experimental tests,” Dr. Ross Mancini, a member of the research team, said.

“So we observed early on that its protective effect could not be due to caffeine.”

Dr. Mancini then identified a group of compounds known as phenylindanes, which are a product of the roasting process.

They were found to inhibit the two protein fragments that are common in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s from 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,” Dr Mancini explained.

“The next step would be to investigate how beneficial these compounds are, and whether they have the ability to enter the bloodstream, or cross the blood-brain barrier.”

The best thing, the scientists said, was that these are naturally occurring chemicals.

“Mother Nature is a much better chemist than we are and Mother Nature is able to make these compounds. If you have a complicated compound, it’s nicer to grow it in a crop, harvest the crop, grind the crop out and extract it than try to make it,” Dr Weaver said.

Although they are still researching I’m just so surprised about the benefits of what is found naturally.

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