Recently I read an article on sciencedaily.com how caffeine improved memory loss in aged mice raised to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The article began with the angle that “Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup.” It continued by reporting on back-to-back studies published online July 6 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease that demonstrated that caffeine notably decreased abnormal levels of the protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease, both in the brains and in the blood of mice exhibiting symptoms of the disease.
However, before you decide to add an extra cup of coffee to your daily intake, let me, Dr. Jamie Phillips add that under “Related Stories” on the website were a couple of articles regarding studies that showed the non-beneficial 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.”
It seems to me that there are probably studies that will corroborate, or at least give credence to, almost any point of view, especially when it has to do with age-related health issues. The “good/bad” studies related to caffeine certainly aren’t, by any means, the only ones. Nonetheless, it did get me to considering about the probability that there will not ever be simply “one thing” that will with absolute certainty aid we, humans, in living longer, healthier lives. Humans are dynamic, biological beings. We aren’t bred in a cage! We are free to make choices in life. And, moreover, though Alzheimer’s disease is likely on the rise, obviously we, cage-free humans, have not been “artificially induced to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease,” so caffeine isn’t absolutely the “one thing” that is going to prevent or reverse it.
Our body is a splendid, complex system that is based on homeostasis or balance. It is likely, then, that good health is cultivated by a healthy, balanced way of living, rather than our being blindly convinced by the latest health study and “doing” or “overdoing” one specific thing under the illusion that it will reverse all of the other excessive and unhealthy things we do to our bodies.
As a Santa Barbara chiropractor, I believe that every moment of the day we have an opportunity to make healthy choices for our body, to decide what will assist us to live longer, healthier lives. We know what genuinely “feels” life enriching and what doesn’t when it comes to what is good for us. So, the next time you reach for that extra cup of coffee or that second glass of red wine, I hope that you’ll keep this in mind. There is no “one thing” that will do “everything” for your good health.