The Study
The Association between Coffee and Tea Consumption at Midlife and Risk of Dementia Later in Life: The HUNT Study
This study watched people for over 20 years and noticed that those who drank a lot of boiled coffee sometimes got dementia later, while others who drank filtered coffee didn’t — but that doesn’t mean coffee caused it. It could be that people who drink more coffee also have other habits that affect their brain health.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at what people drank when they were middle-aged and checked if they got dementia 20 years later. It found that how you make your coffee — boiled or filtered — might affect your brain health differently, especially if you're a man or woman.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 559 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — if you drink a lot of unfiltered coffee (like French press or Turkish), especially as a woman, you might be raising your dementia risk.
- 2Filtered coffee may help men, but tea didn’t help anyone in this group.
- 3Women who drank 8+ cups of boiled coffee daily had 83% higher dementia risk.
- 4Men who drank 4–5 cups of filtered coffee daily had 52% lower dementia risk.
- 5Boiled coffee increased Alzheimer’s risk in people without the ApoE4 gene.
- 6Tea had no effect.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Nutrients
Year
2023
Authors
Denise Abbel, B. Åsvold, M. Kolberg, G. Selbæk, R. Noordam, H. Skjellegrind
Related Content
Claims (7)
People who drink two to three cups of coffee each day have the lowest risk of developing dementia compared to those who drink less or more.
Drinking six or more cups of boiled coffee daily is linked to a higher incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, with greater risk at higher consumption levels, while other types of coffee show no such link.
People who do not carry the ApoE4 gene variant and drink boiled coffee have a higher risk of dementia compared to those who do not drink boiled coffee. People who carry the ApoE4 gene variant do not show this increased risk.
People who drink coffee in general, regardless of how it is brewed, show no difference in dementia risk compared to others when lifestyle and health factors are taken into account. Differences between brewing methods may not be visible when coffee intake is measured as a single total.
Women who drink eight or more cups of boiled coffee daily have an 83% higher rate of dementia compared to those who drink less, while men who drink four to five cups of filtered coffee daily have a 52% lower rate of dementia.
People who drink 1 to 2.5 cups of coffee per day have a 19% lower rate of developing dementia compared to those who drink less or none.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.