Reduce Risk of Parkinson’s Disease by Drinking Coffee

Among the many benefits of coffee and especially healthy organic coffee is that apparently one can reduce risk of Parkinson’s disease by drinking coffee. According to a study of persons on Olmstead County, Minnesota, there is an inverse relationship between the amount of coffee that people drink and their chances of getting Parkinson’s disease. Nearly two hundred persons were followed for twenty years (1976-1995). Researchers noted the amount of coffee that people drank and whether or not they developed Parkinson’s disease. When other things that might affect the incidence of Parkinson’s disease, like smoking, were excluded, there was a clear association between higher coffee consumption and a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. When cells in the brain in a mid-brain region called the substantia nigra die, patients develop shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty with walking and gait. Then in later years, thinking is affected and behavioral problems may occur.  Dementia is a hallmark of the end stages of this disease. Parkinson’s disease is much more common after age fifty. Direct costs of this disease in the USA are over $20 Billion a year.

Health and Organic Coffee Antioxidants

Regular as well as organic coffee contains chemicals called antioxidants. Scientifically an antioxidant is a molecule that inhibits the cell damage and cell death in human cells caused by oxidative breakdown of other molecule in the cell. Oxidation is a factor in sickness and aging. Antioxidants help prevent the damage caused by excessive oxidation and to a degree inhibit the aging process. When an oxidative reaction brought on by disease gets going it produces free radicals that start chain reactions which in turn cause cell and tissue damage. The human body has or uses antioxidants to control this situation. Natural means of controlling oxidation include vitamins C and E as well as glutathione. It is low levels of antioxidants that can lead to a condition referred to as oxidative stress and resultant damage to cells in the body. Organic coffee antioxidants are in the same class of molecules that help reduce oxidation. There have been proven to be many health benefits from drinking coffee, many of which can be tracked back to antioxidants.

Less Diabetes and Less Cancer if You Drink Coffee

Researchers have found less diabetes with daily organic coffee. Although this effect holds true with regular coffee as well, the reduction in impurities with organic coffee is an added benefit. In addition, coffee consumption has been related to a lower incidence of prostate cancer, endometrial cancer, liver cancer, and colon cancer. If indeed, it is the presence of antioxidants in coffee that tends to reduce risk of Parkinson’s disease by drinking coffee, the affect is probably on the cells of the mid brain in the substantia nigra. Further research on how to reduce risk of Parkinson’s disease by drinking coffee has not been recently reported but the reported study from Minnesota seems to indicate that you can reduce risk of Parkinson’s disease by drinking coffee. Add that fact to the good taste and other health benefits of drinking organic coffee and enjoy your morning organic coffee.




Leave a Reply