Browse evidence-based analysis of health-related claims and assertions
Eating a one-time dose of cocoa with 415 mg of flavanols won’t make you better at remembering things you just saw, no matter how much cocoa you usually eat, your weight, or whether you’re male or female.
Descriptive
Eating a one-time dose of cocoa with 415 mg of flavanols won’t make you better or worse at remembering visual details like shapes or colors, whether you’re just holding them in mind or actively updating them.
Caffeine helps protect brain cells from a harmful protein linked to Alzheimer’s, and scientists think it’s because of a specific part of caffeine’s action—other similar drugs that block the same part also work, but ones that block a different part don’t.
Mechanistic
In mice, a special drug called SCH58261, given daily for four days, works just as well as coffee to protect the brain from memory problems caused by a harmful protein.
Causal
Giving mice caffeine over time, plus a little extra right before exposing them to a brain-toxic protein, helps them remember better and make smarter choices in simple tests.
People who drink a lot of coffee or consume a lot of caffeine seem to have better memory and slower brain decline as they age, according to studies that watch people over time — so coffee might help keep your brain sharp without costing much.
Correlational
People who drink a lot of coffee or tea—more than 300 mg of caffeine a day—might see their memory problems from Alzheimer’s slow down more than people who drink very little caffeine, based on studies that track groups over time.
People who drink more coffee or caffeine-rich drinks tend to forget things less quickly as they get older, and this might mean caffeine helps slow down memory problems linked to Alzheimer’s.
A natural spice called cinnamon might help slow down a harmful process in brain cells that’s linked to diseases like Alzheimer’s, at least in lab-grown human cells.
In the brain, sticky clumps called beta-amyloid plaques build up over time and interfere with how brain cells talk to each other, which can make it harder to think and remember things.
When you're awake, your brain builds up a chemical called adenosine, which tells your brain it's time to sleep by slowing down brain activity.
Scientists use sound waves and tiny bubbles to temporarily open a gate in the brain’s protective barrier, letting the brain’s own cleanup crew remove harmful gunk called amyloid-beta plaques.
Eating cocoa with flavanols might boost blood flow to a part of your brain that helps you form memories, like when you're trying to remember names or facts.
Some natural compounds found in cinnamon might help stop harmful clumps in the brain linked to Alzheimer’s and also help the brain use sugar better for energy.
When your blood sugar stays too high for too long and your body can’t use insulin properly, your brain cells can’t get enough sugar for energy, which might cause them to break down over time—this is sometimes called 'Type 3 Diabetes'.
When you add milk to your coffee, the protein in the milk (casein) latches onto the healthy compounds in coffee, making it harder for your body to absorb them—so you get 30% to 60% less of their benefit.
Dark roast coffee has a special compound that might stop two harmful proteins in the brain from clumping together, which could be good for brain health.
Caffeine blocks a brain chemical called adenosine, and this might help reduce the buildup of sticky clumps in the brain that are linked to Alzheimer’s.
People who drink a moderate amount of coffee or tea may be less likely to develop dementia later in life — about 18% less likely, according to this claim.
Scientists think RADA and PAT might protect the brain because they believe the brain mostly works through tiny signal buttons (receptors), and if we tweak just the right ones, we could help the brain stay healthy.
This idea says that to make good brain-protecting drugs, scientists need to tell apart the confusing signals in brain cells that happen when receptors are overworked by disease, from the normal, healthy signals they make every day.
When there's brain damage like a stroke, too much of a chemical called glutamate builds up around the injured area, overstimulating brain cells and hurting them even more.
This idea is about a smart drug that only turns on when the brain is damaged and flooded with too much glutamate—like a safety switch that avoids messing with healthy brain cells.
Scientists think there might be a special kind of drug that only turns down overactive brain signals in injured areas, without messing up the normal signals in healthy parts of the brain.