"Who are you again?I haven't had my coffee yet."
this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
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Guess I'll die
Only 2-3 cups?? Holy shit, I think I have dementia risk credit.
We can start a scam like carbon-credits, and sell off our extra coffee usage to others who don't drink as much!
I'm on my way to having anti-dementia, then.
How about 15?
Also, I wonder if they controlled for people who do specific kinds of work where coffee explicitly helps in the labor.
How about 15?
Fight dementia today, by dying of a heart attack at 45 instead
15 is a fine number. I once had 15 in two hours. I'm fine.
I discovered a hack deal by just pouring extra shots of espresso into the coffee. One cup, 10 shots, one gram of caffeine. Expect the barista to glare with concern, it’s part of the deal.
I did once have two quad espressi while waiting for a flight at stupid o'clock in the morning at Stansted airport. The guys in Costa coffee mostly just found it amusing.
I was also once approached by an alcoholic who chastised me for drinking coffee in a bar in the middle of the day instead of "a real drink". I offered to take a shot of vodka for each espresso he drank and "we would see who dies first". He didn't take me up on my offer.
How does any form of “labor” not fit that criterion?
Yeah that doesn't make sense. More like if the people drinking 3-4 cups a day are doing mental work vs physical work
Im not convinced that picking Amazon packages, operating heavy machinery, doing data entry, or copy editing would have vastly differing performance changes from coffee consumption.
However…
I would imagine that an office worker might have more ready access to coffee, such as a communal coffee maker, than someone with less sedentary workspace.
Read in a book about coffee that without coffee the Industrial Revolution wouldn’t have happened. Coffee fuels capitalism by making people work.
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I believe surgeons, dentists, and people who do similar small-scale hands-on work, like precision soldering, avoid coffee, because it makes for shaky (but alert!) hands. There are likely enough others that I'm not thinking of.
I see plenty of this every day. Medical heroism doesn’t count. That’s just part of your Starfleet duty.
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In this case, it appears to be the caffeine. Also, with these sorts of large studies, the amount is self-reported, so "a cup" is whatever the person reporting considers to be a cup, it's not some controlled amount.
Question: Is long-term intake of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee associated with risk of dementia and cognitive outcomes?
Findings: In this prospective cohort study of 131 821 individuals from 2 cohorts with up to 43 years of follow-up, 11 033 dementia cases were documented. Higher caffeinated coffee intake was significantly associated with lower risk of dementia. Decaffeinated coffee intake was not significantly associated with dementia risk.
Meaning: Higher caffeinated coffee intake was associated with more favorable cognitive outcomes.
how are they defining "cup"? 16 oz? 8? some coffee roasters advise using 6oz "cups" as a measurement, some say 8
Don’t know regarding the study, but as a rule coffee “cups” are commonly either 4oz or 6oz.
6oz is the most common measurement for a “cup” of coffee as far as I know.
which is hilarious because a "cup" for me is more than 3 times that
Yeah, my average “cup” is like 16-18oz.
125ml
Causation vs correlation. I’m thinking caffeine keeps your brain stimulated which lowers risk of dementia. You can probably equally keep your brain stimulated other ways especially if you already have an active lifestyle.
Could be due to fiber. Reduce cholesterol, improve gut health
My guess is that people who regularly drink coffee are supporting some sort of regular mental activity, like a job or school.
especially if you already have an active lifestyle
There's no need to attack me so hard
Haha doesn’t have to be physically active
Hahah
Iirc the causality is thought to be about opening vesicles and increasing blood flow in the brain.
Ah interesting. Can that be done equally without caffeine?
Complex question. Many things increase blood flow like physical exercise or even alcohol. While being active for sure is healthy, alcohol combines the positive and the negative so the effect will not be measurable.
Apart from that: caffeine is the only controversial thing in coffee (other studies report different results). Decaf is healthy without doubt. For old people caffeine has no effect on sleeping so we could recommend it for brain health. If you can still feel an effect on your sleep, do what feels best for you.
God made caffeine. Caffeine good for man. End. Of. Story.
It's fine to highlight it's correlation, but your guess is a theory of causation. It's likely either some genetic combo that drives the desire for coffee or some lifestyle arrangement that drives the need.
Even the idea that an inactive mind leads to deterioration isn't definitively causation. Correlation goes both ways. Are they mentally healthy because they're mentally active? Or are they mentally active because they're mentally healthy? The degree of mental deterioration goes up as you age, which is also when you can retire, when you don't have to support your family, when you're physically incapacitated, and when you slow down overall. So yeah, I plan to stay active because I'll take my chances that it helps, but at some point, something will simply break. Maybe I'll inherit the dimentia. Maybe I'll inherit the neuropathy. Maybe both. Maybe neither.
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Does decaf work?
Read the article? They found that decaf did not confer the same benefits
Given that they specified "caffeinated tea" as also conferring benefit, I would guess it's the caffeine that's the active substance here.
If this is true I’m gonna be the smartest person in the nursing home.
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More is better, right? . . . MORE IS BETTER?!?!!
*shlurp*
The most pronounced associated differences were observed with intake of approximately 2 to 3 cups per day of caffeinated coffee or 1 to 2 cups per day of tea.
Correlation does not equal causation
Edit: although half the rate is very interesting
But it does nod in a direction and wiggle its eyebrows suggestively.
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