The consumption of coffee and tea is very high throughout the world, so knowing its advantages or disadvantages for health is always interesting and a new investigation is committed to its benefits, in this case for the brain, since it has found a relationship positive between drink coffee and tea and the thickness of our macular retinal nerve fiber layerwhich are a indicator of the brain health.
The taint It is the central part of the retina at the back of the eye that allows us to enjoy sharp central vision. The retinal nerve fiber layer is a thin layer of nerve cells that transmit visual information from the eye to the brain. “Our findings indicate that if we consume two to three cups of coffee or more than four cups of tea per day, macular thickness will increase,” said Dr. Lisa Zhuoting Zhu, principal investigator of the ophthalmic epidemiology team at Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA)who has led the new study, which has been published in Nutrients.
As the researcher explained, the study was inspired by existing evidence that tea or coffee may have protective effects for the brain. “Many cultures drink coffee and tea almost every day, from one to more than five cups, so it is important to be aware of the potential benefits or risks to our health.” And he adds that during the study the thickness of the macular retinal nerve fiber layer was used as a measure of brain health: “The thinner the layer, the greater the risk of neurodegeneration”.
Drink coffee yes, but not too much
The study involved more than 35,000 people who completed a touch screen questionnaire reporting the number of cups of coffee and tea they drank daily on average over the past year. They divided the participants into four categories: from zero cups to more than four cups per day.
“If we consume two to three cups of coffee or more than four cups of tea a day, macular thickness will increase,” which benefits the brain
The thickness of the macular retinal nerve fiber layer was measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT), a non-invasive imaging technique that uses reflected light to create images of the back of the eye, which was automatically analyzed by a embedded software.
The results showed that coffee drinkers had a significant increase in the thickness of the macular retinal nerve fiber layer, especially those who drank. two or three cups of coffee per day. In the case of tea drinkers a significant increase in macular thickness was also found in those taking more than four cups a day.
Dr. Zhu noted that they found a “sweet spot” for coffee consumption and having a healthy thickness of the macular retinal nerve fiber layer. “That means not too much, not too little; a medium amount of coffee is best,” she says. And she also warns that not all coffees are created equal: “Many studies have indicated that instant coffee may be a risk factor for many health problems, including neurodegenerative diseases, which we also found in our study. “That suggests that it is better to have good quality coffee.”
Source: www.webconsultas.com
