Possible benefits of coffee 0:55
(CNN) -
The cup of coffee or tea you drink in the morning - okay, maybe more - may be associated with a lower risk of stroke and dementia, according to a new study.
Among more than 360,000 participants studied over a 10 to 14 year period, those who drank 2 to 3 cups of coffee, 3 to 5 cups of tea, or a combination of 4 to 6 cups of coffee or tea per day had the lowest risk of stroke and dementia, according to researchers at Tianjin Medical University in China.
Study Findings
"Our findings suggested that moderate consumption of coffee and tea alone or in combination was associated with a lower risk of stroke and dementia," the study authors said in a statement.
Worldwide, 10% of deaths are caused by strokes, according to a 2017 study published in The Lancet.
Dementia refers to a general decline in brain function, but it can appear after a stroke.
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Drinking coffee or tea alone was also associated with a lower risk of both conditions, but people who drank 2 to 3 cups of coffee and 2 to 3 cups of tea a day (4 to 6 cups total) performed better, with a 28% lower risk of dementia and a 32% lower risk of stroke than those who did not drink either, according to the study.
Participant information came from the UK Biobank, an anonymous health information database of around half a million volunteers in the UK collected between 2006 and 2020. The study looked at participants aged 50 to 74 who self-reported their consumption of coffee and tea.
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Over the course of the study period, 5,079 participants developed dementia and 10,053 experienced at least one stroke, according to the study, which was published in PLOS Medicine.
Data limitations
There have been many studies that suggest that health benefits may be associated with drinking coffee and tea, but it's important to note that the researchers were only able to say that the two were linked, not that the beverages necessarily offered protection.
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There are limitations in the precision of the data because participants reported their own tea and coffee consumption, and their estimates could be influenced by their own bias, said Dr. Lee H. Schwamm, chair of the Advisory Committee of the American Association for Coffee. Stroke and chair of Vascular Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, in an email.
"We cannot impute causation and say 'drinking more coffee or tea is good for the brain.' What we can only say is that in this study, people who reported moderate coffee / tea drinking were less likely to have a stroke or dementia in the 10-year follow-up, "said Schwamm.
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Study finds new benefits of drinking coffee 0:48
Previous research has suggested that coffee may be beneficial for brain health.
Another 2021 study using the UK Biobank showed that for people without a heart disease diagnosis, regular coffee consumption of 0.5 to 3 cups of coffee a day was associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease, stroke and premature death from any cause compared to non-coffee drinkers.
Several studies have also shown that three cups of coffee a day can lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
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Caffeinated coffee can help the brain in a number of ways by increasing the production of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, according to the Alzheimer's Society of the United Kingdom.
Called G-CSF, it helps protect and repair neuronal cells in the brain.
Neither decaffeinated coffee nor caffeine alone helped in this way, "suggesting that there could be a combination effect between caffeine and an unknown compound in coffee," the society said.
How many cups of coffee to drink?
More is not always better when it comes to coffee.
People who drank more than 6 cups a day had a higher risk of dementia and smaller total brain volumes, according to a study published in June in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience.
The most recent study results may point to some benefits of drinking coffee and tea, but that doesn't necessarily mean everyone should start making more cups throughout the day.
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"A word of caution, one man's cappuccino is another's espresso," Schwamm said.
"Not all coffee drinks contain the same amount of caffeine, and people calculate the value of a cup of coffee or tea differently, so we must bear in mind that most things are best consumed in moderation." .
If you've avoided caffeinated beverages in the past, there may be a good reason and there is no evidence yet that there is a benefit to starting coffee or tea, he added.
For most things, moderation is the best approach, Schwamm said.
"Enjoy your cup of coffee in the morning and don't give up on extra cups if you enjoy them," he concluded.
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