Coffee May Prevent Alzheimer's Disease

What disease hasn't coffee been said to prevent? Now, new research says that drinking three cups of coffee per day might prevent Alzheimer's disease in older adults.

What's the secret? Caffeine. When the researchers tested the memory levels of adults between the ages of 65 and 88 with early signs of dementia, individuals who had higher levels of caffeine in their blood system were able to avoid the onset of Alzheimer's. The research also showed that more caffeine also delayed further signs of dementia.

The magic number to those higher caffeine levels, the researchers said, was about 1,200 nanograms per milliliters of caffeine, the equivalent of three cups of coffee. Said researcher Gary Arendash to PsychCentral, "Moderate daily consumption of caffeinated coffee appears to be the best dietary option for long-term protection against Alzheimer's memory loss... Coffee is inexpensive, readily available, easily gets into the brain, and has few side-effects for most of us. Moreover, our studies show that caffeine and coffee appear to directly attack the Alzheimer's disease process." We can drink to that.