Think twice before throwing away those coffee grounds - they might just hold the cure to neurodegenerative disease

If you're a coffee lover, you may be throwing away some valuable brain medicine every morning - that's your coffee grounds. Researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso have discovered that coffee grounds can be used to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Neurodegenerative diseases affect millions of people in the United States alone. It can be caused by a range of environmental factors, including exposure to pesticides and other toxic chemicals.

The team at the University of Texas have found that caffeic-acid-based Carbon Quantum Dots (CACQDs) can be produced from spent coffee grounds. They have the potential to protect brain cells from damage caused by these conditions.

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Coffee grounds may be a promising treatment for neurodegenerative diseases

Protects your braincells (Image via Unsplash/ Google Deepmmind)

In a study published in the journal Environmental Research, the team found that CACQDs removed free radicals - harmful molecules that contribute to other diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and vision loss. It also inhibited the aggregation of amyloid protein fragments without any significant side effects.

The team hypothesizes that in humans in the very early stages of conditions such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, a treatment based on CACQDs can be effective in preventing full-on disease. Current treatments for these conditions only manage symptoms rather than resolving them, making the need for a cure imperative.

What makes CACQDs transformative is that none of the current treatments resolve the diseases; they only help manage the symptoms. The aim is to find a cure by addressing the atomic and molecular underpinnings that drive these conditions.

This means researchers will seek additional funding to support further testing. However, the mere abundance of coffee grounds makes it a highly promising and sustainable avenue for research.

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What stands out about this study is the potential for green chemistry

Caffeic acid may penetrate blood-brain barrier (Image via Unsplash/ Andrea Tummons)

The team used a process known as green chemistry to extract CACQDs from spent coffee waste. By cooking samples of coffee grounds at 200 degrees for four hours, they reorient the caffeic acid's carbon structure and form CACQDs that can be transformative in treating neurodegenerative disorders.

The process is environmentally friendly, and the abundance of coffee grounds makes it both economical and sustainable.

Caffeic acid belongs to a group of compounds called polyphenols, which are plant-based compounds known for their antioxidant or free radical-scavenging properties.

Caffeic acid can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, unlike any other member of this group, making it unique in its potential to exert effects on brain cells.

Can be a sustainable future (Image via Unsplash/ Tyler Nix)

Thousands of undergraduate and graduate UTEP students worked on this project, making it a collaborative effort towards a sustainable future. This study brings about the possibility of using an abundant material that would otherwise end up in a landfill to tackle a significant global issue.

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In a world that is currently facing a crisis due to the environmental impact of human activities, the potential of used coffee grounds to create new treatments needed to address cognitive and neural conditions is encouraging.

So, the next time you make yourself a cup of coffee, don't throw those grounds away; instead, help to create a more sustainable future for everyone.