Coffee intake not only awakes you but also have potential benefits for the mental health in old age, a new study suggests.

In 1,409 middle age people, researchers analyzed the consumption of coffee for twenty one years. Meanwhile, forty eight of them developed dementia and sixty one Alzheimer’s diseases.

In the study, researchers found that participants who drink three to five cups of coffee each day have 65 percent less chances of developing dementia than the people take two cup or less. But the number of people who showed such benefits was too low to draw any conclusion.

Dr. Miia Kivipelto, the lead researcher is not certifying coffee as a preventive health measure and said, “This study is strictly base on observations, there is no evidence that the non-coffee drinkers will have some protective effect after the use of coffee.”

The findings were published after controlling most of the socioeconomic factors including hypercholesterolemia and hypertension.

There are some promising factors that enable coffee to minimize the risk of dementia later in life. Previous study has linked the consumption of coffee with reduced type 2 diabetes that is a key cause of dementia.

In animal studies, it has shown that, caffeine avoids the formation of amyloid plaque in the brain, a key factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Coffee also contains some antioxidants that can reduce the cardiovascular risks for dementia. Dr. Kivipelto also noticed that previous studies have linked the coffee consumption with reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease.