Coffee consumption reduces liver cancer risk

A recent study in Italy has shown that coffee consumption reduces the risk of developing liver cancer by around 40% Furthermore the results indicate that if you drink more than 3 cups of coffee a day, the risk is reduced by more than 50%.

Liver Cancer is the third leading cause of death globally. The most common form, Hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC) is three times more likely to occur in men than in women. The study confirms previous findings that there are specific health benefits related to coffee consumption. Other studies in the past year have shown a protective effect against prostate cancer and womb cancer.

In the recent study, a meta-analysis was performed from data collected from articles published between 1996 and 2012. Out of these articles 16 high quality studies were selected , with a total of 3153 cases reviewed. Although the results across studies and time periods and populations, remained consistent, the researchers cannot prove a cause and effect relationship between drinking coffee and HCC.

They state that coffee drinking has also been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes and as we know that diabetes is a risk factor for liver cancer, it isn’t clear whether coffee’s beneficial effect is due to the fact that it reduces the diabetes risk , or because it has beneficial effects on cirrhosis and liver enzymes

For now however, it seems, the benefits of having an extra cuppa in the morning, outweigh the risks.