Coffee 'doesn't deserve bad rap'

Not only are some health fears misguided but coffee can actually reduce the chances of developing illnesses such as Parkinson's disease or diabetes, a meeting of the International Association on Coffee Science was told in Montpellier, France.

Up to six mugs of the beloved pick-me-up beverage a day will not in fact lead to heart or digestive damage in a healthy person, experts say.

The myriad misunderstandings about coffee stem from the fact that for nearly two centuries, medical studies about it have been confined to the effects produced by a key component - caffeine.

"For a long time research has been too simplistic, by largely being centred on just caffeine, while coffee is an extremely complex drink," said Astrid Nehlig, a leading French specialist on the link between coffee and health.

The drink's benefits far surpass the lift it brings to the morning routine of its devotees, experts believe.

Coffee contains chlorogenic acids and melanoids which trap so-called free radicals, or atomic particles which damage DNA, and are also powerful antioxidants, involved in the prevention of cellular damage.

Coffee can also cut the risks of cirrhosis by up to 80 per cent, according to Carlo La Vecchia, of the Milan-based Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research.

Bertil Fredholm, of Stockholm's Karolinska Institute, highlighted at the conference,which wraps up today, "strong epidemiological evidence" that coffee consumption can prevent Parkinson's disease in men.

And diabetes expert Jaakko Tuomilehto, from Helsinki University, said the risk of type 2 diabetes, linked to poor eating habits and a lack of exercise, can be halved by drinking five to six cups of coffee daily.

Indeed, 10 cups a day - nothing unusual in Finland which tops the world's coffee consumer list - can cut the risk by 80 per cent.

Coffee is more efficient than fruit and vegetables in preventing the oxidation of DNA, the source of a number of serious illnesses, especially cancers, notes Siegfried Knasmueller of the Medical University of Vienna.

But, at the same time, coffee harbours a number of potentially carcinogenic substances.

US toxicology consultant James Coughlin has recorded about 30 such substances, though no study has so far established a definitive link between coffee and cancer.

While research has tended to measure coffee consumption, it has been unable to distinguish what kind of coffee is being drunk, or, often, how it is taken - with or without sugar, milk, or even caffeine.

Most of the studies presented here were based on an American-style cup of coffee, corresponding to trends in northern Europe and the United States, with 600 millilitres a day considered a reasonable amount.

Epidemiologist Cuno Uiterwaal, of the University Medical Centre of Utrecht, has studied the risk of heart attacks in coffee-drinkers and believes that based on current knowledge, a heavy consumer can safely continue to indulge.

But he is less willing to suggest a recommended amount.

"It's always very difficult to translate observational results into medical advice," he says.