2. Coffee consumption may help to reduce the risk of stroke
According to a study of healthy individuals between the ages of 50 and 74, consumption of coffee or tea could be linked to a reduction in stroke and dementia risk. The consumption of coffee was also linked to a reduction in post-stroke dementia risk.1✅ JOURNAL REFERENCE
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003830
Strokes are life-threatening events that result in 10% of worldwide deaths. Dementia is a general term for brain function decline associated symptoms. Post-stroke dementia is a disorder where dementia symptoms take place following a stroke.
The researchers examined 365,682 individuals who had been recruited from the UK Biobank, and followed them for at least 10 years. At the start of the study, individuals self-reported their consumption of coffee and tea. For the duration of the study, 5,079 individuals went on to develop dementia and 10,053 experienced a minimum of one stroke.
Individuals who consumed 3-5 cups of tea or 2-3 cups of coffee daily, or a 4-6 cups of tea and coffee combination experienced the lowest dementia or stroke incidence. People who consumed 2-3 cups of tea and 2-3 cups of coffee every day had a 32% reduced stroke risk and a 28% reduced dementia risk in comparison to individuals who consumed neither tea nor coffee. Consumption of coffee on its own or combined with tea was also related to a reduction in post-stroke dementia risk.
The UK Biobank is reflective of a comparatively healthy sample in relation to the general population which can be restrictive on the ability for these associations to be generalized. Also, relatively few individuals developed dementia or stroke that makes it hard to extrapolate rates appropriately to larger populations.
The researchers caution that while it’s entirely possible that coffee and tea consumption could be protective against stroke, dementia and post-stroke dementia, this causality cannot be deduced from the associations.
