Dark roast coffee might reduce risk of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, study suggests

Another day, another coffee study. New research suggests that you can protect your brain – and the roast matters.

Canadian researchers from the Krembil Brain Institute in Toronto tested Starbucks VIA Instant light roast, dark roast and decaffeinated dark roast for phenolic compounds. That's because they think the compounds, which are the result of the roasting process, are the key to brain health – not necessarily the amount of caffeine.

Phenylindans prevent two protein fragments common in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, according to the study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience last month.

"It's the first time anybody's investigated how phenylindans interact with the proteins that are responsible for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's," Ross Mancini, a research fellow involved in the study, said in a statement.

Dark roast coffee yields the highest quantities of phenylindanes, seemingly making it the best pick for brain health.

However, exactly how beneficial is the compounds still unknown, Mancini said.

Before you change your clothes, coffee studies should be taken with a sip of skepticism. As Howard Bauchner, editor in chief of the medical journal JAMA and The JAMA Network, told USA TODAY in the summer.

"It's interesting but we are suggesting that coffee is a cure? Absolutely not, "researcher Donald Weaver, co-director of the Krembil Brain Institute, said in a statement.

Ashley May

Read more at usatoday.com