Medical Review March 8, 2024 Written by Steven Brown:
Many people drink coffee every day to get a jump start in the morning or to get them through an afternoon slump. Researchers have found that drinking coffee may have other benefits for your body, especially for your liver.
Disease prevention:
Researchers have found that coffee drinkers may be less likely to develop the following diseases:
Liver cancer
Cancer in the lining of the uterus, called the endometrium
Fibrosis, a disease that causes scar tissue to build up inside your liver. This reaction is similar to conditions like hepatitis or alcohol use disorder.
Cirrhosis, the final stage of fibrosis. As the disease worsens, your liver works harder.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which occurs when liver cells store too much fat. It also stops your liver from working as well as it should
Parkinson’s disease, a brain disorder that affects movement control
Alzheimer’s disease
Gout, a type of arthritis, occurs when there is too much uric acid in your blood and it forms sharp crystals in one or more of your joints
If you love coffee, we have better news for you.
The more you drink, the more likely you are to develop liver disease. In one study, researchers found that drinking 2 cups a day reduced the risk of cirrhosis by 44 percent, and 4 cups a day reduced the risk by 65 percent.
Fight disease:
If you have ever had liver problems, coffee may help you with this.
Research shows that moderate amounts, usually between 1 and 3 cups a day, may slow the progression of the following conditions:
Fibrosis
Cirrhosis
Hepatitis B and C
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
How does coffee help you?
In addition to the caffeine in coffee, coffee contains more than 1,000 chemicals. Doctors are still trying to figure out what the body does with the substances in coffee that make it such a beneficial beverage.
When your body digests caffeine, it produces a chemical called paraxanthine, which slows the growth of scar tissue involved in fibrosis. This may help fight liver cancer, alcohol-related cirrhosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and hepatitis C.
Cafestol and kavol are two chemicals found in coffee beans. Both raise LDL cholesterol levels, but these two may help fight cancer.
Doctors aren’t sure how powerful this effect is, but some think that moderate amounts of unsweetened coffee could be helpful alongside mainstream treatments for the most common type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma.
The acids in coffee may be helpful against the virus that causes hepatitis B.
One study found that decaffeinated coffee could have the same benefit. Studies have shown that coffee helps men and women equally. The benefits seem to be the same no matter how the coffee is brewed—filtered, instant, or espresso.
Coffee as medicine:
Doctors think coffee may become an important weapon in the fight against liver disease.
After all, it’s easy to make and doesn’t cost much.
But at this point, doctors don’t know how much coffee is recommended, and coffee may not be right for everyone. While it may help your liver and be good for it, it may increase your risk of other diseases.
For example, some chemicals in coffee may increase your cholesterol or blood pressure levels, which can be dangerous signs for the following people:
People with high blood pressure
Children and teenagers
Elderly people
No matter how good coffee is for you, the key to taking care of your liver is still your lifestyle. Eat healthy, avoid alcohol, watch your weight, get vaccinated for hepatitis A & B, avoid sharing needles, and exercise regularly.