Caffeine protects against age-related illnesses and

Stanford University School of Medicine has identified the connection aging, systemic inflammation, diseases of the cardiovascular system and the consumption of coffee, says Xinhua.

According to scientists, the breakdown products (metabolites), nucleic acids (building blocks of genes), circulating in the blood can trigger inflammation. This is the starting point for cardiovascular diseases, and is behind the increased mortality.

More than 90% of non-communicable diseases of aging are associated with chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation has repeatedly been linked to cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diseases of the heart, blood vessels, osteoarthritis and even depression.

The latter finding suggests that caffeine and its metabolites are able to resist the circulating metabolites of nucleic acids. This probably explains why coffee drinkers live longer. In order to study the effect of caffeine particular, the researchers analyzed blood. First, they compared the blood of elderly and young people. It turned out that the metabolites of nucleic acids increases the activity of a specific genetic cluster. This leads to increased production of interleukin-1 beta.

When mice were injected with metabolites, they began extensive systemic inflammation with high blood pressure. Plus, the immune cells of mice began to accumulate in the kidneys, causing kidney growth pressure. As for caffeine, its metabolites, for example theophylline (contained in tea) and theobromine (found in chocolate), rescuing from the negative effect of metabolites of nucleic acids. This was proved by experiments with cell cultures.