Great news: The benefits of coffee are so plentiful that a new study has linked drinking two extra cups per day to a 44 percent drop in the risk of developing cirrhosis, an awful liver disease brought on by too much booze. Researchers at England’s Southampton University analyzed data on more than 430,000 subjects and write that while there’s still no cure for liver disease, it appears the sky’s the limit for coffee drinkers who want to minimize their chances of a nonfunctioning liver. It’s essentially the more the merrier:
Compared to no coffee consumption, researchers estimated one cup a day was tied to a 22 percent lower risk of cirrhosis. With two cups, the risk dropped by 43 percent, while it declined 57 percent for three cups and 65 percent with four cups.
All that notwithstanding, plenty of questions remain unanswered. The authors point out that they couldn’t deduce what brewing method is best, which is downright vital these days, although some of the data did show brewing by filter is better than boiling. The data accounted for alcohol consumption, but not always for other risk factors like obesity and diabetes. Finally, though coffee is pretty miraculous — apparently, both erectile dysfunction and mortality are no match — it can’t counteract the damage inflicted by a lifetime of binge-drinking or overeating. In conclusion, the researchers say don’t do either of those, and go back to enjoying life’s most “cheap, ubiquitous, and well-tolerated” miracle drug.
[NYP]
