A controlled randomized study conducted on 100 healthy Europeans just vindicated you and your coffee obsession. As far as DNA integrity is concerned coffee is actually more beneficial than water.
Over the course of a month (comprised of two periods), 50 men and 50 women were organized into two groups. The first served as the control group and were instructed to consume 500 ml of water a day with a precondition that disallowed them to imbibe coffee or any other kind of caffeinated drink.
The second group was instructed to consume 500 ml of freshly brewed dark roast a day.
At the end of each period, blood was drawn and analyzed by single-cell gel electrophoresis in order to evaluate how DNA was affected by the two opposing diets.
The coffee group exhibited much less DNA strand breakage than the control group by the end of the 4-week span.
The Reasoning
The positive effect coffee has on repairing cells has been previously suggested on three separate occasions, once in 2011, 2015 and 2016.
All three studies used dark roast blends, though the correlation between the degree of effectiveness and the breed of coffee used has yet to be thoroughly tested.
As it stands – all coffee is rich with anti-oxidants, a compound that enables cells to better repair themselves in the wake of the damage done by free radicals. Free radicals, birthed by sunlight, oxygen, and pollution, deteriorate the collagen fibers in the skin. The microbial properties in coffee help ward off germs in the skin. Its caffeic acid boosts collagen levels which in turn reduces the aging process.
The antioxidants found in coffee are also instrumental in fighting diseases, preventing cavities, diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver and various forms of cancer. The Journal Of The National Cancer Institute reports that habitual coffee drinkers were 20% less likely to develop malignant melanoma.
An epidemiological study published in Circulation back in 2015 found that people that drink coffee were 15% more likely to live longer than those that don’t. More specifically the subjects studied were less susceptible to neurological disorders, heart disease, and even suicide. Caffeine has been independently reported to prevent the development of Parkinson’s disease and drinkers express fewer instances of cognitive failure.