Coffee Consumption Cuts Liver Cancer Risk

Cant live without your morning cup of joe? That may be a good thing: more and more studies are pointing to the health benefits of our favorite caffeinated beverage, especially when it comes to warding off liver disease.

Liver cancer is the sixth in number of cancer cases in the world and the third in number of cancer deaths worldwide. Hepatocellular carcinoma is the main type of liver cancer, accounting for over 90% of the cases worldwide. Chronic infections with hepatitis B and C viruses are the main causes of liver cancer, among other risk factors include alcohol, tobacco, obesity and diabetes.

The poor neglected liver. People tend to worry about their hearts, their lungs, their stomachsbut the liver gets little TLC, despite being essential for cleaning the blood, storing energy and aiding digestion. Good news: You can show your liver a little love by doing something thats also immensely enjoyable…drinking coffee.

Thats rightcoffee is linked to a reduced risk for liver cancer, the worlds third-most-deadly type of cancer. Heres the scoop from a recent meta-analysis, including the amount of coffee that seemed to give drinkers the most protection.

The first study linking coffee and liver disease appeared about 20 years ago, says Dr. Sanjiv Chopra, a hepatologist in the Liver Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The researchers discovered that coffee drinkers had lower levels of liver enzymes. Since then, many studies have shown that coffee is amazingly protective for the liver.

Dr. Chopra points to a wealth of scientific evidence that makes the case for coffee: one study found that people who drank two cups of coffee each day had a 50 percent reduction in hospitalization and mortality from chronic liver disease. Another discovered that drinking two cups of coffee a day decreases the incidence of primary liver cancer by 43 percent. A third study indicated that people who drank one cup of coffee each day had a 20 percent reduction in their risk of developing alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, and increasing their consumption to two cups per day reduced their risk by 40 percent.

Researchers from Italy combined the results from 16 high-quality studies that examined the association between coffee consumption and the most common form of liver cancer,hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Together, the studies from around the world included 3,153 cases of HCC. Heres what the researchers found…

Coffee drinkers in general had a 40% lower risk for HCC than people who did not drink coffee.

High coffee consumption was linked to a 56% reduction in risk for HCC. The studies varied in how they defined high coffee consumption, with most considering high consumption to be three or more cups per day…but in five studies, high consumption meant just one or more cups per day.

Alcohol consumption, hepatitis and liver diseaseknown risk factors for liver cancerdid not appreciably modify the apparent benefits of drinking coffee.

The meta-analysis did not differentiate between regular and decaffeinated coffee (though the researchers noted that most data referred to regular coffee), nor could it examine whether adding cream and/or sugar to coffee made any difference in terms of liver cancer risk.

How might coffee protect the liver?

There are several hypotheses that could explain this. Coffee contains various minerals and antioxidantsincluding chlorogenic acid,cafestol and kahweolthat may inhibit the development of liver cancer. Coffee also reduces the activity of certain enzymes that may play a role in the development of several liver diseases. And some studies show that coffee consumption is inversely related to diabetes and cirrhosis, both of which are known risk factors for liver cancer.

Coffee lovers, take note:

For lots more great reasons to make coffee a regular part of your diet, see More on Coffees Health Benefits, above. Youll learn, for instance, how coffee is linked to a better mental concentration and reduced risk for depression, diabetes, Parkinsons disease, Alzheimers disease and even death from various causes. Then check out these articles for easy ways to make your coffee more enjoyable than ever…

Source:

bidmc.org