Tag: Coffee

Caffeine

Caffeinated Coffee Reduces the Risk of Oral Cancer?

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The coffee is always good at Ronnie’s Diner

Yes, I am delighted to say, according to a new study.

A new American Cancer Society study finds a strong inverse association between caffeinated coffee intake and oral/pharyngeal cancer mortality. The authors say people who drank more than four cups of caffeinated coffee per day were at about half the risk of death of these often fatal cancers compared to those who only occasionally or who never drank coffee. The study is published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The authors say more research is needed to elucidate the biologic mechanisms that could be at work.

Previous epidemiologic studies have suggested that coffee intake is associated with reduced risk of oral/pharyngeal cancer. To explore the finding further, researchers examined associations of caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and tea intake with fatal oral/pharyngeal cancer in the Cancer Prevention Study II, a prospective U.S. cohort study begun in 1982 by the American Cancer Society.

The findings are novel in that they are based specifically upon fatal cases of oral/pharyngeal cancer occurring over a 26-year period in a population of prospectively-followed individuals who were cancer-free at enrollment in Cancer Prevention Study II.

“Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, and contains a variety of antioxidants, polyphenols, and other biologically active compounds that may help to protect against development or progression of cancers,” said lead author Janet Hildebrand, MPH. “Although it is less common in the United States, oral/pharyngeal cancer is among the ten most common cancers in the world. Our finding strengthens the evidence of a possible protective effect of caffeinated coffee in the etiology and/or progression of cancers of the mouth and pharynx. It may be of considerable interest to investigate whether coffee consumption can lead to a better prognosis after oral/pharyngeal cancer diagnosis.”

Further study is needed, but I say a win-win if the results are supported by the evidence!

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Coffee

Drink Coffee and Have Lower Risk of Death?

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Yes, according to a new study on coffee and longevity.

Researchers have some reassuring news for the legions of coffee drinkers who can’t get through the day without a latte, cappuccino, iced mocha, double-shot of espresso or a plain old cuppa joe: That coffee habit may help you live longer.

A new study that tracked the health and coffee consumption of more than 400,000 older adults for nearly 14 years found that java drinkers were less likely to die during the study than their counterparts who eschewed the brew. In fact, men and women who averaged four or five cups of coffee per day had the lowest risk of death, according to a report in Thursday’s edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The research doesn’t prove that coffee deserves the credit for helping people live longer. But it is the largest analysis to date to suggest that the beverage’s reputation for being a liquid vice may be undeserved.

“There’s been concerns for a long time that coffee might be a risky behavior,” said study leader Neal Freedman, an epidemiologist with the National Cancer Institute who drinks coffee “here and there.” “The results offer some reassurance that it’s not a risk factor for future disease.”

This is wonderful news!

I love my Starbuck’s French Roast and Ronnie’s Diner’s special blend!

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Coffee

Don’t Worry! Coffee is Not Going to Hurt Your Heart

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My Coffee cup with Starbuck’s French Roast

Wow, am I relieved!

Coffee has a bad reputation when it comes to heart health, while tea is generally accorded special healing properties. We have good news for both coffee and tea drinkers: neither is bad for the heart.

Interest in the links between coffee and health is not new. In 17th-century Europe, coffee was thought to aid digestion and gout but cause impotence and paralysis — not a favorable trade-off, and also not correct. Today the coffee-health question focuses on the heart.

While some scientists have suggested that coffee might be bad for the heart, others (probably coffee drinkers) have repeatedly rebutted their findings. Among people who are not habitual coffee drinkers, the caffeine from two cups of coffee increases blood pressure by two to three mm Hg. This effect is short-lived and is usually absent among those who drink coffee regularly. Coffee can cause a temporary increase in heart rate, but it is an uncommon cause of abnormal heart rhythms. Boiled or unfiltered coffee contains oils that may increase total and LDL cholesterol levels, but these chemicals are removed by the filtering process, so most coffee has no effect on cholesterol. Finally, some studies suggest that coffee contributes to arterial stiffness. However, other research suggests that two cups of coffee per day actually causes arteries to relax.

In studying the health effects of coffee, cardiologists have focused on hypertension. Coffee does not cause high blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure and you like coffee, you can continue to drink it. Turning to the heart, large studies demonstrate no increased risk of coronary heart disease among coffee drinkers, whether they prefer regular coffee or decaf. While we have no prospective, randomized comparative studies examining cardiac outcomes over 10 to 20 years among people assigned to drink coffee or another beverage, there is enough evidence for us to conclude that coffee does not cause heart disease and that it can be part of a heart-healthy diet.

Guess, I will celebrate with another cup!

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Cancer

Coffee Drinking Associated with Decreased Risk of Skin Cancer?

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Miley Cyrus out for some coffee

The answer is YES, according to a new study. And, the cancer is the slow growing Basal Cell Carcinoma.

Scientists reported Monday that drinking coffee was associated with decreased risk of a common and slow-growing form of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma. It appears that caffeine may play a role, they said.

The team, based at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, presented their study at the American Assn. for Cancer Research International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

Examining data from the Nurses’ Health Study, which followed 72,921 people between 1984 and 2008, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which followed 39,976 people between 1986 and 2008, they found 25,480 skin cancer cases. Basal cell carcinomas represented 22,786 of the cases, squamous cell carcinomas 1,953 and melanomas 741. 

Women who drank more than three cups of coffee had a 20% reduction in risk for basal cell carcinoma.  Men who drank that much coffee had a 9% reduction in risk of the slow-growing cancer.  People who drank the most coffee had the lowest risk.  The team did not identify reduced risk for squamous cell carcinoma.

Co-author Fengju Song, a postdoctoral fellow in dermatology, said that the discovery could help prevent cancers in the future.

“Daily dietary factors with even small protective effects may have great public health impact,” Song said in a statement. “Our study indicates that coffee consumption may be an important option to help prevent basal cell carcinoma.”

Great news since I love my coffee and had a squamous cell carcinoma surgically removed from behind my left ear a few years ago.

Now, if I can drink coffee and prevent cancer.

Really a WIN – WIN here.

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