Last week I saw an article on sciencedaily.com about a study done on aged mice raised to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and the boost that caffeine gave to decreasing memory loss. The article began with the angle that “Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup.” It continued by reporting on a sequence of studies published online July 6 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease that demonstrated that caffeine significantly decreased abnormal levels of the protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease, both in the brains and in the blood of mice that had developed symptoms of the disease.
But, before you opt to add another cup of coffee to your daily intake, let me, Dr. Jamie Phillips add that also on the website, under “Related Stories,” were a couple of articles reporting on studies that professed to prove the negative effects of caffeine, “Morning Jolt of Caffeine May Mask Serious Sleep Problems,” and “Coffee Consumption Linked To Increased Risk Of Heart Attack For Persons With Certain Gene Variation.”
Nearly every viewpoint, from my experience, particularly when it comes to age-related health issues, can be affirmed, or at least given credence, by other related studies. The “good/bad” studies related to caffeine certainly aren’t, of course, the only ones. Even so, it did get me to thinking about the reasonableness that there will not ever be simply “one thing” that will with absolute certainty help we, humans, to live longer, healthier lives. Humans are dynamic, biological creatures. We aren’t raised in unnatural confinement We are actively engaged in life. And, let’s face it, though Alzheimer’s disease apparently is on the rise, obviously no one has been “bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease,” therefore caffeine isn’t absolutely the “one thing” that is going to prevent or reverse it.
The human body is an exquisite, intricate system that is designed to function homeostasis or balance. It is likely, then, that good health has more to do with a healthy, balanced approach to living, as opposed to our being briefly convinced by the latest health study and “doing” or “overdoing” one specific thing fooling ourselves into believing that it will reverse all of the other excessive and unhealthy things we have done to our bodies.
As a Santa Barbara chiropractor, it is my belief that every single day we have an opportunity to choose healthfully for our body, to decide what will help us to live longer, healthier lives. When it comes to what is good for our body, we know what truly “feels” right and what doesn’t. So, the if you reach for that extra cup of coffee or that second glass of red wine, I hope that you’ll think about this. Neither one of those things is the “one thing” that will do “everything” for your good health.