Drinking this amount of coffee daily could save you from a deadly cancer

A new study published in the BMJ journal suggests we shouldn’t feel so bad about our coffee obsession.

In the report, researchers from the University of Genoa determined that drinking several cups of coffee a day contributes to a decreased risk for developing prostate cancer. The results appear to correspond to an inverse relationship. Meaning, every additional cup of coffee the participants drank resulted in a risk decrease.

The primary mechanisms concerned caffeine, caffeic acid, and chlorogenic acid.

Independently conducted research has shown that caffeine flushes harmful carcinogens through the digestive tract, which in turn limits the gut’s exposure to them.

As previously reported by Ladders, caffeic acid contains anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, and enzyme-inhibiting properties. Each has been academically linked to reduced tumor activity.

Lastly, chlorogenic acid is believed to produce reactive oxygen agents in cancer cells—diminishing them as a result.

“Prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer death in men. There were 1 276 000 new cancer cases and 359 000 cancer deaths in 2018.It is estimated that nearly three-quarters of prostate cancer cases occur in developed countries,” the authors wrote in the new report.

“Coffee is known to be a major source of dietary caffeine, cafestol, and antioxidants in industrialized nations. Its various constituents such as caffeine, caffeic acid, and chlorogenic acid can potentially impact the development of cancer through multiple carcinogenesis pathways.”

The highest level of consumption reported by participants featured in the new report ranged from 2 to 9 or more cups a day; while the lowest ranged from none to fewer than 2 cups a day.

Each additional cup of coffee a day was associated with a reduction in relative prostate cancer risk of roughly 1%.

The highest coffee drinking group was linked to a reduction in prostate cancer risk of 9%.  The same cohort was linked to a 7% lower risk of localized prostate cancer, and a 12%-16% lower risk for advanced and fatal prostate cancer, respectively. All of this was confirmed via a meta-analysis of several studies published in the recent past.

“We identified 497 records after searching the three databases. After 217 duplicate records were removed, 280 records remained for screening of titles and abstracts, and after screening the titles and abstracts, 254 irrelevant records were excluded. Following a further full-text review of the 26 remaining studies,” the authors explained.

It should be noted that most health experts suggest healthy adults consume no more than 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day. This correlates to roughly 4 cups of brewed coffee, 10 cans of cola, or two “energy shot” drinks a day.

Exceeding this value has the potential to lead to anxiety, insomnia, and abnormal heartbeats.

Still, the American Cancer Society reports 248,530 new cases of prostate cancer a year and about 34,130 deaths as a result of the disease. The data published in the new report appears to support daily coffee consumption within the limits established by official dietary guidelines.

“This study suggests that increased coffee consumption may be associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Further research is still warranted to explore the underlying mechanisms and active compounds in coffee. If the association is further proved to be a causal effect, men might be encouraged to increase their coffee consumption to potentially decrease the risk of prostate cancer,” the authors concluded.