Coffee. A 6-letter word that I am sure soothes the souls of many medical students around the world, including my own. That dark, rich color. That tempting, invigorating smell. I honestly can’t imagine my mornings without that cup of coffee. A full cup of homemade Starbucks coffee with a dash of almond milk and some sort of sweet pastry- the ideal morning routine that gets me going. However, ever since my first day of medical school, it doesn’t just stop at that morning cup. There’s a lunchtime Starbucks run, maybe one after class at 5, and don’t forget those evening teas, which average around 40 mg of caffeine per 8 fluid ounces! Come on, how else do my professors expect me to keep up with my daily studies?!
An article written in Medical News Today, entitled “Coffee drinking habits may influence risk of mild cognitive impairment”, discusses a study that has opened my eyes to just how much of an influence our coffee drinking habits could have on us! Drinking coffee, an act we think is going to wake us up so we can study and retain more, is in fact doing the COMPLETE opposite. It is not exactly the act of drinking coffee that is detrimental to us, but the pattern in which we are doing so. The article presents a study presented in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, following the drinking habits of people between the ages of 65 and 85. The results they discovered are truly amazing! As quoted by the article’s author, Honor Whiteman, the results of the study revealed that “cognitively normal participants whose coffee consumption increased over time were also around 1.5 times more likely to develop MCI than those whose coffee consumption remained stable – no more or less than one cup of coffee each day”. Furthermore, “participants who consistently drank a moderate amount of coffee – defined as one or two cups daily – were at lower risk of MCI compared with those who never or rarely consumed coffee”. Who knew changing the AMOUNT of caffeine one drinks over time could have such a major effect on one’s memory and cognitive abilities?
It is very interesting to me that if you just keep a consistent, stable, predictable amount of intake, coffee has not shown to be detrimental for the body. This just goes to show that too much of anything is simply not good for you. Even though the pool of subjects was older in this study, there is definite potential that the correlation found could apply to the younger population. Once we near that final exam, and we start upping our intake to two, then three, then four cups a day, that is when the damage might ensue. This is the point I wanted to highlight. Trust me, I understand at that moment, at 1:00am in the middle of the night, you feel like that warm, steaming cup of coffee is the only thing keeping you from having a meltdown and simply giving up. However, I just want to call to your attention the possibility that the change in our coffee drinking patterns could actually be hindering our cognitive abilities, instead of helping. Next time you go to your Mr. Coffee to make that 4th cup of the day, please step back, and think of another alternative that could wake you up and recharge your engines. Perhaps a quick run. Maybe a phone call to an old friend or family to change your mindset. These are all possible substitutes that could work, if given the chance, AND that do not have such destructive effects.
Featured image:
cup of coffee by cactusbeetroot
