According to the book ‘100 Simple Ways to Prevent Alzheimer’s’ by author Jean Carper, consuming caffeine can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly. Interesting now that dementia threatens to become the number 1 public disease. It could even help remove the damage caused by Alzheimer’s disease and regain our mental health. An exciting thought: as a senior with dementia, change your lifestyle a little and be cured of Alzheimer’s! And can you now say: ‘Dear elderly person, drink enough coffee (or an energy drink or Coca-Cola), and you will not get Alzheimer’s?’ Time to carefully review this chapter by Carper.

Scientific research on caffeine and Alzheimer’s disease that causes dementia

Carper bases these claims on a pre-2010 study by Gary Arendash, professor at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in Florida. There would therefore be a scientific foundation for these claims about the preventive and curative effect of caffeine in Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia.

Arendash’s Caffeine and Alzheimer’s Research

Arendash has conducted several tests in which he added caffeine to the drinking water of mice.He gave it to ‘elderly’ mice that were genetically susceptible to the condition Alzheimer’s and already had mild symptoms of dementia. He also gave it to old mice with advanced Alzheimer’s disease. The mice with mild dementia regained the memory of normal, healthy mice. In the old mice with advanced Alzheimer’s, the mice’s memory and cognition improved again! What is the causal relationship between caffeine consumption and an improvement in the brains of the mice?

The influence of caffeine on Alzheimer’s disease

The caffeine would, among other things, inhibit inflammation (which Carper claims in her book elsewhere that this promotes Alzheimer’s) and would remove the deposits of beta-amyloid in the brains of mice with dementia.coffee as a weapon against Alzheimer’sWhat is Beta-Amyloid? As the brain ages, brain cells are broken down. This is a normal occurrence, even in elderly people who do not suffer from Alzheimer’s. But when Alzheimer’s disease has struck, the breakdown of brain cells does not proceed properly. This then creates a toxic protein called beta-amyloid. This toxic protein initiates a process that results in Alzheimer’s disease. This has been shown by methodologically sound scientific research among seniors.

What does Carper recommend regarding caffeine and Alzheimer’s disease?

Using 400-500 mg. caffeine per day is wise to prevent memory loss and the Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly, according to Carper. Alzheimer’s is a disease that causes a severe form of dementia that is accompanied by extensive memory loss. This can be consumed in the form of coffee, tea, cola, energy drinks or by taking caffeine tablets. So if you see elderly people walking through Albert Heyn with cans of Red Bull, now you know why!

Carper’s warning against the use of caffeine itself

Carper does warn that people with dangerously high blood pressure, pregnant women and heart patients should not consume large amounts of caffeine. Unfortunately, Carper does not point out the large amounts of sugar that can be found in an energy drink or in coca-cola. Large amounts of sugar are also not good for your health. Certainly not for diabetics! There are relatively many people among the elderly with so-called adult-onset diabetes.

What is Carper’s tip about caffeine and Alzheimer’s worth, which causes a severe form of dementia?

Mice are not people!

A strong caveat to blindly following this tip is that the tip is based on scientific experiments with mice! And (old) mice are simply not (old) people. At the very least, additional scientific research is needed here that is not sponsored by coffee manufacturers, coca-cola producers and energy drink suppliers.

Premise about the influence of inflammation on the development of Alzheimer’s disease

In addition, Carper uses the argument that inflammation can also cause Alzheimer’s disease and that caffeine inhibits inflammation. If you want to use the reliability of the suggestion about caffeine and really investigate Alzheimer’s disease, you will also have to check the scientific basis of this premise first!

Prevent, cure or reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s by drinking coffee, coca-cola and energy drinks?

A conclusion

Finally, if you read this advice from Carper about caffeine and Alzheimer’s in the context of her complete book, you should read this tip rather as advice for seniors to make changes in their lifestyle (drinking more coffee, for example), to reduce the chance of reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease!

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