Researchers at the Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute report that the intake of caffeine equivalent to five cups of coffee a day, protected memory in Alzheimer’s mice and lowered the levels of the abnormal protein, beta-amyloid. Even when the mice had already high levels of beta-amyloid in their brains, intake of caffeine brought them down to lower levels.

“We were surprised to find that Alzheimer’s mice given caffeine in their drinking water throughout adult life performed much better than Alzheimer’s mice not given caffeine and very similar to normal mice without the disease,” said Dr. Gary Arendash, Ph.D, lead researcher in the study.

This research is in line with earlier research in humans that showed Alzheimer’s patients had a lower caffeine intake during the 20 years preceding diagnosis compared with age-matched individuals without Alzheimer’s disease.

Johnnie B. Byrd, Sr. Alzheimer’s Center & Research Institute.