Good news for all those coffee drinkers out there. Researchers have said that one cup of coffee could help prevent deteriorating eyesight and possible blindness from retinal degeneration due to glaucoma, aging and diabetes.
Raw coffee is, on average, just 1 percent caffeine, but it contains 7 to 9 percent chlorogenic acid, a strong antioxidant that prevents retinal degeneration in mice, according to a Cornell study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
"Coffee is the most popular drink in the world, and we are understanding what benefit we can get from that," Chang Y. Lee, a professor of food science and the study's lead author, said to the Cornell Chronicle.
The study treated one group of mice with CLA and another with nitric oxide, finding that the first group showed no retinal damage.
According to the report, researchers described how the tissue is some of the most metabolically active, needing high levels of oxygen, which can lead to oxidative stress. A lack of oxygen can make the body produce radicals, highly reactive molecules that can also lead to tissue damage and loss of sight.
The coffee antioxidants can be consumed regularly with few side effects or correlated health risks.
