Espresso can prevent an Alzheimer's protein from progressing. But your daily coffee can't ward off the disease just yet.

A new lab study found that espresso may prevent an Alzheimer's protein from clumping, causing researchers to wonder if the drink could play a role in preventing the development or progression of Alzheimer’s disease, as well. While more studies are needed to confirm this result, and how it would apply in a clinical setting, the researchers say their findings “could pave the way toward finding or designing” more treatments against Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.^[]

What did the study find?

This study was conducted in a lab setting and the results were not tested on humans. In test tubes, the researchers added espresso to tau, a protein that is present in the body and that can clump together in people who have neurological diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson’s disease. In the test tubes, the espresso prevented the tau protein from clumping together and aggregating.

Alzheimer's treatment or prevention

Without a clinical trial, the results from this study do not yet have an impact on treatment or prevention of Alzheimer's. Further, while the results are exciting, they may not be as groundbreaking as some hope, according to Clifford Segil, DO, a neurologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California.

For starters, Dr. Segil says that doctors tend to have mixed views on the importance of targeting the tau protein in Alzeihmer’s prevention. As a neurologist who treats Alzheimer's, he says he has not yet noticed patients experience a clinical benefit from other medications that affect tau structure.

“I often share with my patients that if you ask two neurologists or neuroscientists the same question, you may get three different answers,” says Dr. Segil. “As multiple studies have shown conflicting health benefits and risks associated with coffee use, more studies are needed.”

He adds that it is also important to avoid taking the results out of context, as they have not been used in clinical trials and are not associated with drinking espresso.

At this point, it would be a stretch to say there is “scientific merit” to the idea that drinking espresso can ward off neurodegenerative diseases, he says.

To find that out, “a next possible step would be to test coffee or espresso use in people and then to obtain special ‘tau’ brain imaging studies after someone drank an espresso,” Dr. Segil suggests. Instead of or in addition to brain images, researchers could test a person's cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels after drinking an espresso, he says. (For those interested, such a study could even be supported by a coffee chain, he adds). CSF is a clear fluid in the brain and spinal cord, the levels of which can be impacted by neurodegenerative diseases.^[]

Should doctors recommend patients drink espresso?

Based on this study alone, you shouldn’t recommend patients drink espresso with the promise of Alzheimer's prevention. More studies are needed to determine if and how espresso may play a role in clinical settings. However, they can still offer more general guidance on how coffee consumption can support—or at least not hinder—their well-being.

To avoid unwanted side effects like overstimulation from caffeine, Dr. Segil recommends patients drink coffee in moderation, similarly to how he might talk to them about drinking alcohol, he says. 

“I do not advise the patients I care for with neurodegenerative disease drink a coffee…with the intent that this is going to help their disease state,” he adds. “Rather, it is something to enjoy like a dessert.”