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Does drinking coffee stop liver cancer?
There's nothing like a cup of hot steaming coffee to jolt you out of sleep mode every morning. And with the board exams coming up, many a student will be burning the midnight oil and gulping down umpteen cups of black coffee to keep the sandman away.
Coffee is also an excuse for something more leisurely -- a good conversation.
"Wanna go for a coffee?" How many times in a week do you find yourself asking this question?
Thus, coffee shops are teaming with students and professionals, chatting incessantly, lounging around for hours, nursing cups of cappuccino. Pure bliss!
Besides the role of energy booster, stress buster and conversation starter, coffee could also be playing a bigger role in your life.
People who drink more than a cup of coffee a day are less likely to develop liver cancer than those who do not, Japanese researchers say.
A team at Tohoku University, a state-run university in Sendai, in north-east Japan, compiled the data based on a study of about 61,000 adults. Professor Ichiro Tsuji, who led the study, said the team has yet to pinpoint the substance in coffee which appeared to curb liver cancer. But he said coffee helped lower the risk of cirrhosis, and that chlorogenic acid, present in coffee beans, had proven in an animal study to reduce the risk of liver cancer.
The team studied 61,000 people aged 40 years or over for seven to nine years between 1984 and 1997. It found 117 people developed liver cancer during the survey period. The team analyzed data based on the subjects' age, sex, and other factors, and concluded that the chances of developing liver cancer were 0.58 for those who drink more than a cup of coffee per day and 0.71 for those who drink less than a cup of coffee a day, compared with the base figure of one for non-coffee drinkers. The tendency to develop liver cancer was particularly prevalent among those who had had some type of liver ailment other than cancer in the past, who were 60 or older, and who had smoked in the past. "The tendency not to develop liver cancer among coffee drinkers was consistent even if we analyzed their age, sex, and drinking habits," Tsuji said. ~ According to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, a research team led by Dr Monami Inoue and a team of researchers of the National Cancer Centre in Tokyo analysed a public health study spanning ten years, to determine coffee consumption by people diagnosed with liver cancer versus those who did not have cancer.
~ They discovered that liver cancer in people who never or almost never drank coffee was 547.2 cases per 100,000 people. But for people who drank coffee daily, the risk was 214.6 cases per 100,000!
~ The results indicated that those who drank one to two cups of coffee a day were likely to be protected. This likelihood increased when coffee consumption increased to, say, three to four cups.
~ Whether decaffeinated coffee also has a similar effect was not clear as the decaf variety is rarely consumed in Japan.
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Is coffee therapeutic? The debate is on around the world. But closer home, here's what nutritionists have to say. Diet and fitness consultant Seema Tarneja says, "There's a lot of controversy surrounding coffee and its ability to prevent cancer. Research is being conducted around the world, and there are many contradictory reports. Some say coffee consumption helps build immunity against liver cancer. But if a patient has a liver problem, I advise him/ her to abstain from caffeine!"
Dietitian Rohini Diniz believes caffeine might indeed have a role in preventing liver cancer: "This is because caffeine is a phytochemical ('phyto' means plant), and phytochemicals have been known to display medicinal properties even though they do not have any nutritive value."
Thus, there is no universal theory on the subject yet.
- According to Tarneja, it is healthier to have black coffee. When you add milk to coffee, it kills all the antioxidants -- which boost your immunity levels -- in the coffee.
- If you are stressed, you can drink up to two or three cups of coffee. But make sure you do not skip your meals. Else, it could be harmful for your system.
- Some studies indicate that caffeine intake also hinders calcium absorption. So too much caffeine is not advisable.
- If you are are worried about excessive caffeine intake, switch to decaffeinated coffee, which is now becoming popular in India.
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Cirrhosis of the liver has been known to lead to the development of liver cancer in about five percent of the patients with liver cirrhosis. While these study findings do reflect a protective factor for the liver from drinking coffee, the researchers are not sure what it is in coffee that offers the benefit.
Here's the breakdown of coffee consumption to protective benefit for the liver. People drinking one cup of coffee a day were 20 percent less likely to have alcoholic cirrhosis. People drinking two or three cups were 40 percent less likely to have alcoholic cirrhosis. For people who drank four or more cups of coffee a day, there was an 80 percent reduction in risk.
They conclude it is not caffeine, because tea drinkers did not receive the same liver disease protective benefit as coffee drinkers. The researchers also state they do not recommend coffee as an effective remedy for long-term liver damage that can come from too much drinking or alcoholism. Never-the-less, the study does show coffee confers a health benefit when it comes to the liver.
The healthcare community has done its fair share of investigating the effects of drinking coffee, and a subsequent array of health warnings and encouragements have been issued regarding its regular consumption.
Since the liver processes all that we ingest, people living with liver disease, including hepatitis, must be extra vigilant in watching what enters their digestive system. Coffee is turning heads as a liver cancer and cirrhosis preventative. It has also been noted as a factor in reducing insulin resistance, a prominent liver disease risk factor. The keys to accentuating coffee's benefits while avoiding any harm, are to stay within moderation, be aware of conditions contraindicating its consumption, and be careful of what you add to your brew.
While a recent study states coffee reduces the risk of alcohol-related cirrhosis but has no effect on cirrhosis caused by Hepatitis C, there is research indicating that moderate coffee consumption provides several liver-related health benefits.
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