Want some memory with your coffee or tea? If you’re an older woman you may get just that, reveals a new study touting the benefits of drinking three-plus cups of coffee or tea a day.

French researchers recently reviewed the health and mental function of more than seven-thousand men and women and asked questions about their friends, everyday activities and eating and drinking habits… including how many cups of tea and coffee they drank each day. They also tested participants’ mental and verbal memory at the start of the study and then two and four years later. What the researchers discovered was… well… mind-jogging.

The more coffee and tea the women drank, the better their memory was, especially those eighty and over. Those women who drank more than three cups of coffee a day… or the caffeine equivalent in tea… tested higher on memory skills over four years than those who skimped on caffeine. In fact, the caffeine-swigging women were less likely to lose verbal, visual and spatial skills than women who drank only one or cup of coffee or less per day. Coffee or tea… it didn’t matter. What did matter was that the women drank caffeine.

Caffeine-drinking men, however, did not enjoy the same memory boost. Researchers don’t know why. Perhaps women metabolize caffeine differently or are more sensitive to its effects.

At any rate, before you tip that pot of java, check with your doctor, especially if you have high blood pressure or heart conditions.