We like coffee. Recent coffee news I’ve written about were more on the negative side, but now I have a piece that I think will be a nice to know for most of us: Coffee helps reduce the risk of liver cancer or at least liver disease, I can’t figure out specifics.

A study conducted from the University of Southampton has shown results where all kinds of coffee (drip, espresso, decaf, heck even instant) helped protect people with chronic liver disease. Data from the UK Biobank, a biomedical database that has provided data in other studies related to coffee consumption, were taken from 494,585 adult participants. The study took into account their coffee consumption habits and health records, while also checked for factors including body mass index, alcohol consumption, and smoking.

The 384,818 coffee drinkers were 21% less likely to develop chronic liver disease, 20% less likely to develop chronic or fatty liver disease, and 49% less likely to die of chronic liver disease than non-coffee drinkers (USA today). Brewed (“ground coffee”), including decaf, showed the most benefits but even instant showed some promise. The optimal number of coffee consumed is 3 to 4 cups a day (more on this later), anything beyond that did not show any significant additional benefits – I think drinking more than 4 a day can be bad for most of us.

Now, of course there are some reservations about this. Vanessa Hebditch, of the British Liver Trust, told The Guardian that the study results further prove the theory that coffee is good for liver health – is something I kept seeing in the articles (The Hill)  I read about this study. She will go on to say that: “However, it’s important that people improve their liver health not just by drinking coffee, but by also cutting down on alcohol and keeping to a healthy weight by exercising and eating well.” The study also only had data from the participants from one point in time in their lives, meaning they were drinking coffee during that period of time but they were not interviewed during time when they were not (like before liking coffee or if they stopped drinking it).

Now, about that 3 to 4 cups sweet spot. I recently uploaded this piece and for those with a family history of glaucoma, drinking 3 or more cups of coffee in a day can raise your risk for developing glaucoma – which does not have symptoms as I reckon. If you fall under that group, then you have even less cause to depend on caffeine/coffee consumption as a fail safe for liver health. Also, if you want to down 3 to 4 cups in a day, it would be prudent to schedule them within these optimal times.

And there you have it, yet another case for the many health benefits of coffee. Now, as always, drinking coffee on its own would be ideal to really tap into its health benefits. Drinking instant coffee on its own is mostly not a fun activity, so why not just join us and drink good coffee.

Additional article:

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/21/health/coffee-benefits-liver-wellness/index.html

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