Why dark coffee might help your brain
Phenylindanes in Brewed Coffee Inhibit Amyloid-Beta and Tau Aggregation
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Caffeine had no effect on any of the target proteins—even at 50x higher concentrations than found in coffee.
For decades, caffeine has been blamed (or credited) for coffee’s neuroprotective effects—this study proves it’s not involved in stopping protein clumping at all.
Practical Takeaways
Choose dark roast coffee if you’re concerned about Alzheimer’s risk.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Caffeine had no effect on any of the target proteins—even at 50x higher concentrations than found in coffee.
For decades, caffeine has been blamed (or credited) for coffee’s neuroprotective effects—this study proves it’s not involved in stopping protein clumping at all.
Practical Takeaways
Choose dark roast coffee if you’re concerned about Alzheimer’s risk.
Publication
Journal
Frontiers in Neuroscience
Year
2018
Authors
Ross S. Mancini, Yanfei Wang, D. Weaver
Related Content
Claims (7)
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.
Dark roast coffee seems to stop harmful clumps in the brain better than light roast coffee, and scientists think it’s because the darker roasting creates special compounds called phenylindanes.
A compound in coffee called quercetin might stop some harmful protein clumps linked to Alzheimer’s from forming, but it doesn’t stop another type linked to tau, and at high doses, it might even make a different protein clump more — so its effects are mixed and not simple.
When coffee beans are roasted, they make some natural compounds that, in lab tests, stop harmful clumps of brain proteins from forming—clumps that are linked to Alzheimer’s disease. One of these compounds, called phenylindane (6), was super effective at stopping these clumps.
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.