From Arnold Schwarzenegger's newsletter email: In one of…

From Arnold Schwarzenegger's newsletter email: In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers followed more than 200,000 adults for about nine years to see whether coffee was associated with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and dementia. Unlike many studies, they didn't just count cups. They looked at how people took their coffee, focusing on sweetened, unsweetened, caffeinated, or decaf. People who drank about 3 cups of unsweetened, caffeinated coffee had roughly a 25% lower risk of dementia and a 29% lower risk of Parkinson's compared to non-coffee drinkers. Neurodegenerative deaths trended lower too, though that result wasn't strong enough to call conclusive. Researchers believe coffee's bioactive compounds — caffeine, chlorogenic acids, and polyphenols — have neuroprotective effects, helping reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. However, decaf coffee didn’t show a protective link, which means caffeine likely plays an important role. But here’s the catch: once sugar was added, the association between coffee and brain protection vanished, and sweetened coffee showed no significant benefit. While it’s not conclusive and this is just an association study, added sugar may work against those benefits. Or, it could be that people who add more sugar to their coffee also have other behaviors that could contribute to neurodegenerative disease. If you enjoy coffee, this is one more reason to keep sipping, and your best bet is to drink black and caffeinated, and up to three cups a day.