Apr
6
Caffeine protects brain from cholesterol damage?
April 6, 2008 |
Daily caffeine ‘protects brain’
“After 12 weeks of a high-cholesterol diet, the blood brain barrier in those given caffeine was far more intact than in those given no caffeine.“
“Caffeine is a safe and readily available drug and its ability to stabilise the blood brain barrier means it could have an important part to play in therapies against neurological disorders.“
Ahh… just another reason to enjoy my daily 3-4 cups of black tea. I was an enormous coffee fan (not exactly a ‘unique’ quality in our society) up until a few months back, when I finally came to terms with the fact that coffee gave me really bad insomnia and that caffeine headaches really altered my mood. Since having switched to tea I’ve had probably 95% fewer cases of insomnia and rarely do I detect the afternoon ‘crash’ that I always experienced from coffee. I still try to treat myself to some quality decaf every now and then; I just love coffee’s taste. Some might even say that in switching to decaf you can learn to appreciate coffee even more, as you can savor all of its flavor without having to contend with the huge caffeine jolt that might have you lying in bed for hours unable to fall asleep. Cheers to moderate levels of caffeine and their presumed ability to save us from sleepiness and senility. Alliteration intended.
Comments
4 Comments so far
In spite of these little informative facts, I still remain…
Sophie: The Anti-Caffeine, Pro-Sleep Machine :).
Love U
To think, all of these years I have been told that my weekday diet of coffee and cheeseburgers was a bad thing. This is wonderful news for the folks who can cash in on it. Dunkin’ Donuts, vascular surgeons and cardiologists!!! This is right up there with the story I read yesterday about how the HPV vaccine can protecting people from lung cancer.
I’m not sure if you read the first quote incorrectly, but it is definitely not stating that the high cholesterol diet was beneficial in any way. The caffeine protected the blood-brain barrier from the damage caused by the cholesterol. So there’s no implication here that your Dunkin’ Donuts are nutritionally beneficial. Coffee, however, does seem to be a lot healthier than people have conventionally thought it to be.
I was just joking around, I actually eat a pretty healthy diet myself. I’m just excited that somebody finally told me my coffee addiction could have a positive effect. Even if it turns out to be marginal its still a moral victory.