Drinking many cups of coffee a day enhances brain function, research finds

Coffee, in the right amounts, can reduce all-cause mortality, help us live longer, ease inflammation, and lower the risk of diabetes, Report informs, citing MindBodyGreen.

An exploratory population-based study out of Hamburg, Germany, recently looked at the brains of over 2,000 people between the ages of 45 and 74. It compared four groups of people who said they regularly drank: Less than 1 cup of coffee per day; 1–2 cups of coffee per day; 3–4 cups of coffee per day; 5–6 cups of coffee per day.

The study found that people who regularly drank three to four cups of coffee per day had the strongest brain structure when looking at several factors, including preserved cortical thickness, which is generally associated with higher intelligence.

These initial findings add to a large body of evidence supporting the notion that coffee is good for your brain and overall health.

Coffee has been shown to slow down cognitive decline and potentially reduce the risks of both Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. Additionally, a 2017 meta-analysis of coffee's health effects found coffee to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as neurological, metabolic, and liver conditions. Although not all of these studies considered the exact number of cups of coffee, several of them reference the three- to four-cup threshold for optimal benefits.