Tufts University. US: We know coffee is great for a stimulating
jolt of caffeine. But coffee, the primary
source of antioxidants in the American diet,
is also rich in polyphenols, compounds that
have been linked to brain health. A study
published in the journal Age suggests that it
is not just the caffeine that has a good effect
on the aging brain, at least in rats.
For eight weeks, Barbara Shukitt-Hale,
Ph.D., a USDA research scientist in the
Neuroscience and Aging Laboratory at the
HNRCA, and colleagues fed 19-monthold
rats a diet enriched with coffee—the
equivalent of 0, 3, 5, 10 or 15 cups per day
for a human. They then ran them through
a battery of tests to evaluate their balance,
muscle strength, spatial learning and memory.
The most significant improvement was
in the rats that got the 10-cup equivalent.
The researchers repeated the experiment,
giving the rats a caffeine supplement
to mimic what they had consumed from
the coffee.
The caffeinated rats performed
better than the control group, but not as
good as those that received the coffee.
Shukitt-Hale notes that caffeine and
poylphenols are not the only bioactive
compounds in coffee. Future studies could
look at how all these compounds work
together to help the brain.