Drink This Daily to Protect Your Liver

Dear Natural Health Solutions Reader,

As a lifelong addicted coffee guzzler connoisseur of artisanally brewed Coffea arabica, I’m delighted by the ongoing research indicating that my beloved perk offers abundant health benefits.

A few months ago, I pointed out that a large study had linked a daily intake of up to five or six cups of coffee daily to a boost in longevity — in other words, java drinking extends life span by dropping the risk of dying from pretty much anything.

(While this may sound like a huge intake, keep in mind these are eight-ounce cups, not venti sizes from you-know-where, each of which contains as many as three cups.)

Well, today, via a brand-new comprehensive research review from the University of Southampton in the U.K., I want to show that what many regard as a vice — drinking coffee — may provide significant protection against what many regard as yet another vice — drinking alcohol.

Downing coffee daily is linked to a dramatically lower risk of cirrhosis of the liver, according to a new and comprehensive review of current research.¹ The review looked at nine studies, comprising 432,133 patients.

In fact, drinking two cups beyond the median daily consumption appears to cut the risk of death from the condition by an average of nearly 50 percent.

Cirrhosis: A Growing Problem

Some background: Cirrhosis of the liver is a truly terrible disease, marked by scarring and necrosis (tissue death) due to viruses and especially to alcoholism.

It’s a huge and growing problem, currently affecting well over a half million Americans. Worldwide, deaths from the disease increased from around 676,000 in 1980 to over 1 million in 2010, the last year for which comprehensive numbers are available.

Now, what’s especially compelling about this new review is that it showed a clear dose response. That is, the more cups of coffee that were consumed daily, the lower the risk of both developing and dying from cirrhosis.

So no matter what the median intake in the various studies that were reviewed, drinking two cups more than that daily was linked to, on average, a 44 percent lower risk of getting cirrhosis of the liver and an almost 50 percent reduction in the risk of death from the condition.

This does not mean, however, that more is always better. It means a modest amount — two cups — more than the median consumption in a given study is, on average, better.

What Makes Coffee So Therapeutic?

It may seem logical to conclude that these healthful effects are due entirely to caffeine, coffee’s most famous bioactive constituent, but that’s almost certainly not true.

In fact, as the authors note, research indicates coffee offers a wide variety of active components, including:

• chlorogenic acid, a potent antioxidant that has been shown to slow the rise of blood glucose levels after a meal²
• kahweol, which research suggests may be a potent anti-carcinogen³
• cafestol, which may offer neuroprotective effects, including lowering the risk of Parkinson’s disease.⁴

And that’s why decaffeinated coffee also shows beneficial effects in these studies. Good news for those who are sensitive to caffeine or dislike its effects.

Bottom line: Both coffee drinking and alcohol consumption have long been regarded as unhealthy behaviors.

Of the two, alcohol consumption truly does have the potential to be a classic vice, with a long, sad, and undeniable legacy of ruined lives and early deaths.

However, I am increasingly persuaded by research that combining moderate alcohol consumption — generally defined as no more than two drinks daily for men, one for women — combined with daily, rather robust coffee consumption of three — up to five — cups daily can constitute a potent combination for long-term health.

Further, while I would never advocate alcohol consumption that exceeds moderate standards, drinking coffee (and eating saturated fat as well) may offer a measure of liver protection to those who sometimes overindulge.

Personally, I drink roughly three cups of quality organic coffee daily and typically enjoy a glass of red wine — and, perhaps once a week, two — after dinner.

I regard neither as a vice. Instead, each contributes to what I feel confident is an optimized lifestyle for overall health.

Sincerely,

Brad Lemley
Editor, Natural Health Solutions

Citations

1. Kennedy OJ, Roderick P, Buchanan R, Fallowfield JA, Hayes PC, Parkes J. Systematic review with meta-analysis: coffee consumption and the risk of cirrhosis. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2016

2. Johnston KL, Clifford MN, Morgan LM. Coffee acutely modifies gastrointestinal hormone secretion and glucose tolerance in humans: glycemic effects of chlorogenic acid and caffeine. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003

3. Cavin C, Holzhaeuser D, Scharf G, Constable A, Huber WW, Schilter B. Cafestol and kahweol, two coffee specific diterpenes with anticarcinogenic activity. Food Chem Toxicol. 2002

4. Trinh K, Andrews L, Krause J, et al. Decaffeinated coffee and nicotine-free tobacco provide neuroprotection in Drosophila models of Parkinson’s disease through an NRF2-dependent mechanism. J Neurosci. 2010