(NewsNation) — Espresso may offer more than just an energy boost, as a new study by the University of Verona in Italy found that the dark shot of coffee could help prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Although the exact mechanisms that cause Alzheimer’s and dementia are still unclear, it’s believed that a protein called tau plays a role in the onset of neurodegenerative diseases.

According to the National Institute of Aging, in most people, tau proteins help stabilize structures of the brain, but tau proteins can clump together into threads, known as fibrils, that accumulate in brain regions, slowing thinking and reducing memory skills.

Researchers believed that preventing the formation of this protein may alleviate the symptom of Alzheimer’s or prevent it from developing to begin with.

“It’s a helpful adjunct; I think it’s neuroprotective,” said neurologist Dr. Tom Pitts. “It’s not going to stop Alzheimer’s. It’s not going to roll back Alzheimer’s.”

Professor Mariapina D’Onofrio, the study’s lead author, and her team pulled espresso shots and incubated them with a truncated form of tau protein in the lab for 40 hours. Increasing espresso extract concentration prevented the formation of larger tau protein tangles, keeping fibrils shorter, per the study.

Pitts said coffee has been beneficial to health when consumed in moderate quantities.

“So approximately under 300 milligrams per day, about three cups of the weaker coffee, like your Keurig, or about one cup of this very potent coffee, you might get it like a Starbucks or something. So we know that that’s neuroprotective,” he said. “However, we’ve also seen studies like a 2022 Harvard study, where if you go beyond that neuroprotective range, it actually becomes detrimental. It interrupts sleep, it can sometimes cause palpitations, we didn’t think coffee causes heart arrhythmias.”