Abstract

Background: Globally, coffee and tea are consumed extensively, potentially providing neuroprotection through anti-inflammatory and antioxidative stress effects. Objective: This study aimed to investigate associations between coffee and tea intake and cognitive function. Methods: In a longitudinal prospective cohort study, dementia-free (n = 8715; age range 60.0–85.2 years) older adults from the UK Biobank self-reported coffee and tea intake over the previous year; ‘never’, ‘moderate’ (1–3 cups/day), or ‘high’ (≥4 cups/day). Participants completed cognitive assessments at ≥2 timepoints (mean of 9.11 years). Results: Those ‘never’ consuming coffee and ‘moderate’ coffee consumers (β = 0.06, p = 0.005; β = 0.07, p <  0.001, respectively), as well as ‘moderate’ tea consumers and ‘high’ tea consumers (β = 0.06, p = 0.009; β = 0.06, p = 0.003, respectively) had slower fluid intelligence decline. Additionally, those ‘never’ consuming coffee and ‘moderate’ coffee consumers had a slower increase in pairs matching errors (β = −0.05, p = 0.022; β = 0.05, p = 0.013) compared to ‘high’ consumers. Conclusions: ‘Moderate’ coffee, and ‘moderate’ and ‘high’ tea intake may be a protective factor against cognitive decline. Randomized controlled trials are required to establish causal relationships leading to evidence-based recommendations regarding benefits of coffee and tea intake.

Keywords

Alzheimer's disease, coffee, cognitive decline, tea, UK Biobank

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

9-1-2025

Volume

107

Issue

1

PubMed ID

40686251

Publication Title

Journal of Alzheimer's Disease

Publisher

Sage

School

Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease Research and Care / School of Medical and Health Sciences /

RAS ID

82647

Funding Information

S.R.RS. is supported by an NHMRC Investigator Grant (GNT1197315). This work was supported by a Western Australian Near-Miss Award granted to B.M.B.

Funding received from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

GNT1197315

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

First Page

170

Last Page

178

Recommended Citation

Rainey-Smith, S. R., Sewell, K. R., Brown, B. M., Sohrabi, H. R., Martins, R. N., & Gardener, S. L. (2025). Moderate coffee and tea consumption is associated with slower cognitive decline. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 107(1), 170–178. https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877251361058

Download

Included in

Neurosciences Commons

Share

 
COinS
 

Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1177/13872877251361058