Coffee has been shown to have beneficial effects on health in several studies. Coffee drinking is linked to a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke, among other things.
Now, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles have investigated coffee's possible effects on the liver. They analysed data from around 355,000 people who were followed for around 13 years.
Their conclusion: Drinking five cups of coffee or more a day may be linked to a 47 percent lower risk of developing liver cancer and a 32 percent lower risk of developing liver cirrhosis, also known as cirrhosis.
The positive effects were seen for both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee. Sweetening the coffee with sugar or sweeteners only slightly reduced the healthy effects on the liver, according to the study published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Those who sweetened their coffee, however, had higher values for a marker that may indicate inflammation and fibrosis in the liver, Hyunseok Kim, a transplant physician and one of the study authors, told CNN.
Since even decaffeinated coffee appears to benefit the liver, researchers believe that the healthy effects come from the drink's antioxidant properties.
The researchers point out that the study participants were primarily of European descent and “relatively health-conscious,” which may have influenced the results.
