Slashdot Mirror
Daily Caffeine Protects Your Brain
Chroniton writes "The BBC has a story that many Slashdot geeks will be happy to hear: the caffeine from a cup of coffee a day can help prevent Dementia, by blocking the damage of cholesterol. (At least in rabbits) This is in addition to the already-known protection against Alzheimer's Disease. More research is needed to test the effect on humans."
Alzheimer's is a specific disease.
Dementia is just a general term for (usually) old-age brain rot.
simon
It is true that most cholesterol is produced in the body, but that does not mean that dietary cholesterol is not important. First of all, the typical American diet is heavily weighted in favor of saturated fats. Saturated fats stimulate the body to release more cholesterol into the blood, of the LDL ("bad") variety. So while eating a food high in cholesterol may not contribute directly to your cholesterol level, typically those high cholesterol containing foods also contain large amounts of saturated fats, and those saturated fats will contribute to your cholesterol level. Steak is definitely a rich source of saturated fat, so you should moderate your intake.
Which brings up another point: some people are more susceptible to the effects of high blood cholesterol than others. Unless you know for sure which group you're in (and who really does?), don't you think you should use a little discretion in choosing your diet? Furthermore, by getting your daily fat intake from vegetable sources, you're doing yourself additional favors, because you are probably also increasing your intake of dietary fiber, bioavailable vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants (which also has an LDL-lowering effect).
You're right about the exercise bit, though. If people spent half as much energy worrying about their exercise regimen as they do fretting about whether they should eat carbs or not, people in general would be a lot healthier. Trust me, once you reach a certain level of daily exertion, your body will burn just about anything efficiently.