Coffee to combat retinal degeneration?

Aside from providing drinkers with a jolt of energy and a period of mental clarity, coffee drinkers can celebrate yet another potential health benefit they may be enjoying from their daily habit.

Spotted on the website Science Blog, a new study has found out that an antioxidant called chlorogenic acid can help prevent against a loss of eyesight and possible blindness brought on by retinal degeneration. Deterioration of the retina could be due to the natural aging process or be brought about via diseases such as diabetes and glaucoma.

And guess what coffee contains? That’s right – a heap of chlorogenic acid

The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, used mice in their study – so opponents of animal testing may want to stop reading.

It transpires that mice pre-treated with a course of chlorogenic acid developed no retinal degeneration.

Chang Y.Lee, a professor of food science, says that the study is important as it helps us understand “natural foods that provide beneficial health effects.”

“Coffee is the most popular drink in the world, and we are [beginning to understand] what benefits we can get from that.”

Our retinas are notoriously fragile: a thin layer of tissue on the inside, back wall of our eyes, retinas contain millions of cells that receive and then process visual information. In conjunction with a high workload retinas also need a high level of oxygen which mean that they can be subjected to oxidative stress quite easily; this lead to tissue damage and a loss of site.

Previous studies into the health advantages of coffee have suggested that the bean can help tackle Parkinson’s, some forms of cancer, diabetes and Alzheimers to name a few. Research into these areas is a new field, but early results have been encouraging.

The next step for this team of researchers is to see if drinking coffee delivers chlorogenic acid directly to the retina, as if so it may well allow doctors recommended a brew or two to patients in conjunction with other treatments.