Coffee offsets liver cancer risks caused by booze

Drinking three or more alcoholic drinks a day increases chances of developing liver cancer, but there is “strong evidence” that coffee can counteract the risks.

Coffee reduces the risk of developing liver cancer caused by drinking alcohol every day, research suggests

Research by the World Cancer Research Fund International reviewed 34 studies from all over the world, comprising 8.153 million men and women and 24,600 cases of liver cancer.

The results of the systematic review revealed, “there is strong evidence that consuming approximately three or more alcoholic drinks a day is a cause of liver cancer”.

However, there was also “strong evidence” suggesting that a link between drinking coffee and a lower risk of liver cancer.

It is thought compounds in coffee kick-start the body’s defences and can reduce inflammation, prevent damage to DNA, increase the capacity for DNA to repair itself and improve sensitivity to insulin, which protects against typ-2 diabetes and extreme weight gain.

Ricardo Uauy, professor of public health nutrition at the University of Chile and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, wrote in a blog post on the findings: “As a member of the independent panel of scientists that reviewed the worldwide research, this is a significant finding that I hope will help reduce the global number of cases of liver cancer.

“Drinking coffee decreases the risk of liver cancer.

“However, there are still many unanswered questions around the findings on coffee for us to give definitive advice on this.

“For example we don’t know how many cups should be consumed and how regularly, what effect adding milk and/or sugar has, and whether the coffee drinking reported in the research was caffeinated or decaffeinated, instant or filtered.

“But it’s a future area of research World Cancer Research Fund International is interested in, especially as its report on womb (endometrial) cancer shows strong evidence that coffee consumption also reduces the risk of womb cancer.”