Can Your Morning Coffee Slow Aging?: Milky Way News

EARTH, Laniakea Supercluster—Another early alarm, another long shift, another endless to-do list, and only so much energy to get through it. So you reach for your daily fix: coffee. But new research suggests it may be doing more than just waking you up.

In a study published in Microbial Cell, researchers at Queen Mary University of London found that in fission yeast cells (single-celled organisms whose basic machinery works a lot like ours), caffeine switches on AMPK, a kind of energy gauge inside cells. That, in turn, dials down a growth switch linked to how cells age.

“So historically over the years there has been some evidence that caffeine has potentially beneficial benefits, and it seems from large studies that it does actually prolong lifespan,” Dr. John-Patrick Alao, a postdoctoral researcher who led the study, told Milky Way News.

This growth switch, known as target of rapamycin (TOR), is what Alao describes as a biological switch in cells that helps determine when cells divide. Alao said that caffeine doesn’t directly turn TOR on or off.

Its effect runs through AMPK. Before cells divide and create more of themselves, AMPK acts as the final gauge to determine whether enough food and energy are available. Understanding this process could help scientists find other means of more effectively targeting TOR and the mechanisms related to cell division.

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“AMPK is sort of an energy gauge,” said Alao. “When the cells have low glucose it gets turned on, and when it gets turned on it turns off another protein called target of rapamycin, which is the real thing that basically decides whether the cell is in a catabolic state—that is, whether it’s breaking things down.”

Alao was originally studying why caffeine makes cells more sensitive to the DNA-damaging drugs used in cancer treatment.

“It turns out, basically, that caffeine doesn’t actually work directly on the DNA damage response pathway,” said Alao.

Instead, caffeine works indirectly, through AMPK, and it actually makes yeast cells more vulnerable to DNA damage. That could help DNA-damaging cancer drugs hit harder.

The lifespan benefit runs through AMPK, too.

“In a nutshell, you could say it drives the cells toward the fasting state,” said Alao—an effect akin to dieting or getting a consistent, good night’s rest.

Alao recommends getting caffeine from coffee and not other caffeine sources like energy drinks or tablets.

“[A teaspoon of] caffeine would be toxic, whereas a teaspoon of coffee is not, and there are also other compounds in coffee that seem to have a beneficial effect, especially the antioxidants,” Alao said.

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So before you chug barrels of Monster Energy and chew caffeine gum, keep in mind that Alao said pure caffeine, especially in high amounts, is toxic, and that so far these benefits have only been seen in yeast cells. These findings give researchers like Alao new leads on how to fight cancer.

Still, Alao said the key to living longer lies in eating a healthy diet, getting good sleep and exercising.

So go ahead and enjoy your daily cup (or several) of coffee.