Is coffee an elixir for long life?
Put the kettle on — a new study has found that drinking two cups of coffee a day could reduce the risk of developing liver cancer by a third.
Researchers at the University of Southampton and the University of Edinburgh analysed data from 26 separate studies involving over two million participants and found that people who consume two cups daily have a 35 per cent lower risk of developing hepatocellular cancer (HCC), the most common form of primary liver cancer.
It’s just the latest in a slew of reports about the supposed health benefits of the brew. Last month a Harvard University study declared that drinking three cups of coffee a day( even decaf) could help you live longer.
And there have been plenty more. From type 2 diabetes through to Parkinson’s disease, the headlines would suggest that coffee is a magic elixir for all sorts of ills. But is it really?
Here, we have scooped up some of the latest coffee research to try to sort the beans from the granules when it comes to health claims. It’s not an easy task. According to Harvard School of Public Health, coffee contains hundreds of different compounds: some are good for human health; others aren’t.
This complexity accounts for the fact that scientific opinion about coffee has “flip-flopped” in the past. The good news is that your coffee addiction probably is not bad for you (apart from the impact on your wallet )— but it falls along way short of being a health drink.
Heart disease
A Korean study published in the journal Heart last month showed that drinking 3 to 5 cups of coffee a day (what they called “moderate consumption”) was associated with less calcium build-up in the arteries. But headlines declaring that coffee “prevents heart attacks” were wrong, because the study did not find that coffee drinking confers actual benefits. The new Harvard study suggests moderate coffee consumption reduces the risk of dying prematurely from heart disease. But some other studies actually link coffee to risk factors like raised blood pressure and cholesterol, so more research is needed in this area.
Mortality
A Harvard School of Public Health review of coffee research recently found that drinking up to six cups of coffee per day was safe and did not increase the chances of dying from any particular cause, including cancer or heart disease. But closer reading of the study reveals it does not give the green light to rampant coffee consumption. The research involved men and women in their 40s and 50s who were healthy to start with, and was based on standard 240ml cups of coffee containing 100mg of caffeine with a little milk or sugar. Many consumers buy larger cups of coffee containing as much as 330mg of caffeine per serve, which are often loaded with sugary flavourings and/ or whipped cream.
Type 2 Diabetes
An American Diabetes Association review of coffee research last year found “strong” evidence that drinking 6 cups of coffee per day could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 33 percent for both men and women, and the new Harvard study backs this up. However, the link is still unclear. Studies show the results are roughly the same for both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, suggesting an ingredient other than caffeine is responsible. Some studies also suggest that people who have diabetes and struggle to control their glucose levels might be better opting for decaffeinated coffee.