Dr. Jamie Phillips

Just the other day I found an article on sciencedaily.com about a study performed on aged mice induced to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and the boost that caffeine gave to reversing memory loss. The article lead with the suggestion that “Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup.”  It continued by discussing coterminous 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 displaying symptoms of the disease.

But, before you opt to add another cuppa to your daily routine, let me, Dr. Jamie Phillips add that under “Related Stories” on the website were at least two articles about studies that demonstrated the not-so-healthy 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 conceivably many studies that will affirm, or at least bolster, nearly any view point, in particular when it is about age-related health issues. The “yin-yang” of caffeine benefits-deficits certainly aren’t, by any means, the only ones. Nonetheless, it did get me to considering about the likelihood that there will not ever be any “one thing” that will irrefutably help we, humans, to live longer, healthier lives. Humans are dynamic, biological beings. We are free to engage in life. We’re not bred in a cage! And, furthermore, though Alzheimer’s disease may be on the rise, obviously no one has been “bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease,” therefore caffeine isn’t entirely the “one thing” that is going to reverse or prevent it.

The human body is an elegant, intricate system that is based on homeostasis, i.e, balance. It is likely, then, that good health is cultivated by a healthy, balanced way of living, instead of our jumping on the bandwagon of the latest health study and “doing” or “overdoing” one specific thing under the illusion that it will reverse all of the other excessive and unwholesome things we do to our bodies.

As a Santa Barbara chiropractor, I believe that every single day we have an opportunity to choose healthfully for our body, to decide what will help us to live longer, healthier lives. We know what actually “feels” right and what doesn’t when it comes to what is good for our body. So, the if you reach for that extra cup of coffee or that second glass of red wine, I hope that you’ll think about this. There is no “one thing” that will do “everything” for your age-related health issues.

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