Popular drinks might house major health benefit, research says

How good a certain drink is for your health has long been debated.

New research suggests, however, that this drink — or, more specifically, one of its key components — might house a pretty neat health benefit.

A new report published to JAMA from Harvard researchers states that drinking either caffeinated coffee or tea can benefit your cognitive health in the long run.

The study observed 130,000-plus participants with an average age of about 46 years old over the course of 43 years. These people drank two to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day, or one to two cups of tea.

They found that these people actually had a lower risk of dementia and cognitive function as they aged. This was “the most pronounced … at moderate intake levels,” the report states.

Decaffeinated coffee wasn’t “significantly associated” with risk of dementia, the study adds.

CNN Health explains that coffee has the ability to reduce inflammation, blood pressure and oxidative stress (i.e., when cell and tissue damage occurs). However, it should be noted that upping your caffeinated tea and coffee intake isn’t a cure-all.

“Regular physical and frequent activity, good sleep hygiene, not smoking, managing blood pressure and diabetes, staying socially engaged, and maintaining overall diet quality which should be mainly made up of whole plant-based foods…remain far more influential than any single beverage,” wrote Dr. Sara Mahdavi, adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s nutritional sciences department, to CNN via email.

“Coffee is not a substitute for well-established brain healthy behaviors.”