Dr. Jamie Phillips

Just the other day I read an article on sciencedaily.com regarding a study performed on aged mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and the boost that caffeine gave to reversing memory loss. The article began with the angle that “Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup.”  It went on to discuss back-to-back studies published online July 6 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease that proved that caffeine notably decreased abnormal levels of the protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease, both in the brains and in the blood of mice that had developed symptoms of the disease.

However, before you decide to add another cuppa to your daily intake, let me, Dr. Jamie Phillips elaborate by including that also on the website, under “Related Stories,” were at least two articles about studies that demonstrated the negative 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.”

Almost every viewpoint, I’ve noticed, particularly when it has to do with age-related health issues, can be affirmed, or at least bolstered, by a number of specific studies. The “yin-yang” of caffeine benefits-deficits certainly aren’t, of course, the only ones. Even so, it did get me to pondering about the reasonableness that there will not ever be any “one thing” that will with absolute certainty help we, humans, to live longer, healthier lives. We are dynamic, biological creatures. We are free to engage in life. We’re not confined to a cage! And, moreover, though Alzheimer’s disease apparently is on the rise, obviously we, cage-free humans, have not been “bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease,” so caffeine isn’t going to be the “one thing” that will prevent or reverse it.

Our body is a splendid, intricate system that is designed to function homeostasis or balance. It is likely, then, that good health is cultivated by a healthy, balanced attitude towards living, instead of our being blindly convinced by the latest health study and “doing” or “overdoing” one specific thing fooling ourselves into believing that it will reverse all of the other immoderate and unwholesome things we do to our bodies.

I believe, as a doctor of chiropractic in Santa Barbara, 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 actually “feels” beneficial 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 think about this. Neither one of those things is the “one thing” that will do “everything” for your age-related health issues.

Dr. Jamie Phillips
601 E. Arrellaga St. #201
Santa Barbara, CA, 93103
http://www.santabarbarachiropractic.org

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