Drinking coffee has been associated with a distinct types of health benefits in recent years like liver health improvement and reducing diabetes risk
and along with generally making us feel more alert and awake. You may
have a cup (or two) of coffee every morning to help you wake up
and face the day, but you may also be doing your skin a favor.
Recently researchers from US National Cancer Institute have observed that people who
drink four cups of coffee in a day are 20 percent less likely to develop
malignant melanoma (the leading cause of skin-cancer death in the United States) than non-coffee drinkers.
The
study looked at 447,357 retirees over a period of roughly 10 years,
and analysed the coffee consumption of all participants, and their diet.
In that period of study, 2,904 people developed malignant melanoma and
1,874
people had developed early-stage melanoma, which hasn’t yet spread.
They
then assessed how much UV each participant would have bee
exposed to, based on NASA data on the amount of sun each person’s
hometown had received over the study period. They also looked into how
much they exercised, how much alcohol they drank, whether they smoked
and also their body-mass index.
When controlling for all those factors, as well as a family history of
cancer, the researchers found that drinking at least four cups of
caffeinated coffee a day still turned out to be significantly linked to a
20 percent reduction in malignant melanoma risk.
Erikka Loftfield told Stephanie Pappas from Live Science, "Our study is the largest to date to evaluate this relationship," one of the researchers involved in the study. The results have been published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The team explains that their results now need to be repeated and verified. And, of course, the best way to avoid skin cancer is still to avoid UV exposure."
This risk reduction was only significant for caffeinated coffee, not
decaff, which suggests that the benefit may be coming from caffeine, but
further research needs to be done on the different compounds in coffee
and how they relate to skin cancer risk.
According to Alice Park from Time, "The roasting process of coffee beans also releases vitamin
derivatives that protect against UV damage in mice. There’s also
intriguing evidence that caffeine may act as a molecular sunscreen,
absorbing UV rays and therefore protecting DNA from damage."
Pappas also said that, “Our results, and some from other recent studies, should provide reassurance to coffee consumers that drinking coffee is not a risky thing to do. However, our results do not indicate that individuals should alter their coffee intake."
But
this isn’t the first time that coffee has been shown to have a
protective effect against a type of skin cancer. Back in 2012, research
found that women who drank more than three cups of coffee a day had a 21
percent reduction in basal cell carcinoma risk, compared to women who
only drank one cup of coffee a month. For men, the risk reduction was 10
percent.
Jiali Han, from Harvard Medical School in the US, told Anna Azvolinksy over at Scientific American, "Most likely, the protective effect is due to caffeine."
In short, Go ahead enjoy that morning coffee mug with smile.
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